Jeffrey Goldsworthy is a renowned constitutional scholar and legal theorist whose work on the powers of Parliament and the interpretation of constitutional and statute laws has helped shape debates on these topics across the English-speaking world. The importance of democratic constitutionalism is central to Professor Goldsworthy's work: it lies at the heart of his defence of Parliamentary supremacy and shapes his approach to both constitutional and statutory interpretation. In honour of Professor Goldsworthy's retirement, this collection provides new perspectives from a range of leading public law scholars and theorists on the legal and philosophical principles that govern the making and interpretation of laws in a constitutional democracy. It also addresses some of the challenges to democratic constitutionalism that have arisen in light of contemporary developments in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Table Of Contents

1. Introduction

Lisa Burton Crawford, Patrick Emerton and Dale Smith

2. Goldsworthy on Interpretation of Statutes and Constitutions: Public Meaning, Intended Meaning and the Bogey of Aggregation 

Larry Alexander

3. What is Statutory Purpose? 

Dale Smith

4. Statutory Meaning without Parliamentary Intention: Defending the High Court's 'Alternative Approach' to Statutory Interpretation 

Patrick Emerton and Lisa Burton Crawford

5. Goldsworthy on the Normative Justification for Originalism 

Lawrence B Solum

6. Originalism and Explanatory Power: Text, Structure and the Interpretation of Constitutions 

Nicholas Aroney

7. The Moral Motivations for Moderate Originalism 

Heidi M Hurd

8. Authenticity, Ontology and Natural History: Some Reflections on Musical and Legal Interpretations 

Kevin Toh

9. Populism and Parliamentary Sovereignty: The Goldsworthy Solution

Alison L Young

10. Democracy, Mixed Government and Judicial Review 

Richard S Kay

11. Models of (and Myths about) Rights Protection 

Richard Ekins

12. Political Obligation and Public Law

TRS Allan

13. Response to Contributors 

Jeffrey Goldsworthy