Responsible government in the Dominions: Responsible government in the Dominions

Responsible government in the Dominions (Vol. 2)

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Multivolume work

Identifikator:: 1896933912

Document type:: Multivolume work

Author:: Keith, Arthur Berriedale http://d-nb.info/gnd/119086794

Title:: Responsible government in the Dominions

Place of publication:: Oxford

Publisher:: Clarendon Press

Year of publication:: 1912-

Collection:: Economics Books

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Volume

Identifikator:: 1896935052

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-238139

Document type:: Volume

Author:: Keith, Arthur Berriedale http://d-nb.info/gnd/119086794

Title:: Responsible government in the Dominions

Volume count:: Vol. 2

Place of publication:: Oxford

Publisher:: Clarendon Pr.

Year of publication:: 1912

Scope:: XI Seiten, Seiten 570-1100

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Part IV. The federations and the union // Chapter II. The commonwealth of Australia

Collection:: Economics Books

tHar. nr] THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 853 of the Court were in the nature of a law, it had no authority whatever. There was no direction of any Parliament which he was bound to follow, and there could be no binding quality in his decrees unless it were to be found in s. 5 of the Common- wealth of Australia Constitution Act, which declares * This Act and all laws made by the Parliament of the Common- wealth under the Constitution shall be binding on the Courts, Judges, and people of every state and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any state’. If this power were not held to be granted to the Court it would be impossible for it to perform any effective function. He contended at length that it was impossible to hold that arbitration merely meant that the state laws must be obeyed. The Constitution had selected arbitration as the mode of Commonwealth action in dealing with industrial disputes because arbitration was a judicial act, and had the advantages of being a judicial act. By requiring arbitration the Constitution secured that the substantial requirements of justice should be observed, that the parties must both be heard, that the Court must act honestly and impartially, and so forth. It was thought proper not to legislate directly to empower the Commonwealth to fix rates of wages or numbers of hours for the settlement of disputes. It preferred to do so by the method of arbitration in view of the fact that Parliament was unfitted to inquire into facts dependent upon evidence. The decisions of the Court must be regarded as an exercise of the legislative power, and it stood on the same footing in that regard as the determina- tions of the States Wages Boards, which also were legislative acts, but which were subject to be overridden by the para- mount authority of Commonwealth legislation. A judgement of the High Court declaring the law was binding on the people of the state ; if founded on state law the State Legislature could alter the law, but it could not reverse the judgement. On the other hand, a federal award prescribing industrial conditions was not an interpretation of the law, but intro- duced new obligations. This was legislation by means of a subordinate body acting under the Imperial authority, and

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