The Constitution of Independence

The Development of Constitutional Theory in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

Peter C. Oliver

Fills an important gap in the literature on British and Commonwealth law, politics, and history by writing the final chapter in 20th Century Commonwealth constitutional development (independent constitutions of commonwealth states)
Topical given current European and American preoccupation with sovereignty and legal systems

The Constitution of Independence

The Development of Constitutional Theory in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

Peter C. Oliver

Description

The Constitution of Independence traces constitutional theory in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand from early domination by British Imperial ideas, through contemplation of constitutional equality, to the eventual achievement of irreversible constitutional independence in the 1980s. In these countries, a series of fascinating developments have been under way for more than a decade, characterized by independent thinking, experimentation, and cross-Commonwealth borrowing of constitutional ideas.

The Constitution of Independence

The Development of Constitutional Theory in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

Peter C. Oliver

1. Introduction
Part I: the Imperial Constitution
2. The Imperial Dominions
3. Parliamentary Sovereignty in the Empire and Commonwealth: Dicey's Dominions and Dogmas
4. Theories of Parliamentary Sovereignty after 1931: New and Revised
Part II: Constitution to Independence
5. Canada I: Confederation and the Imperial Theory
6. Canada II: An Independent Constitutional Theory
7. Canada III: The Patriation Reference
8. New Zealand: Waitangi, Westminster, and Wellington
9. Australia I: Colonies, Conventions, and Canberra
10. Australia II: Westminster to Canberra
Part III: Constitutional Independence
11. Legal Continuity or Disguised Revolution?
12. Theoretical Approaches to Sovereignty and Legal System
13. Constitutional Continuity and Constitutional Independence
14. Conclusion