Book Review: Principles of Australian Administrative Law
| Author | Maurice Cullity |
| DOI | 10.1177/0067205X6700200213 |
| Published date | 01 June 1967 |
| Date | 01 June 1967 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
306
Federal Law Review
[VOLUME
2
There could be little disagreement with
Dr
Campbell's contention
that the extension
of
amember's immunity from arrest during parlia-
mentary sittings to periods
of
forty days before and forty days after
those sittings
is
arelic
of
the horse and buggy days and that, having
regard to modern and ever faster transport facilities, the period
of
immunity could be substantially reduced.
As would be expected in abook
of
this kind, the controversial case
of
1955 in the House
of
Representatives which ended in the commitment
to
prison for three months
of
Raymond Fitzpatrick and
Frank
Browne
is dealt with
at
some length.
Dr
Campbell, in common with others then
and since, is critical
of
the procedure which was followed and postulates
that, on this account,
an
apology and retraction would have been sufficient.
The fact remains that the Committee
of
Privileges, whose report was
adopted unanimously by the House, found, and the validity
of
this
finding has not been in question, that Fitzpatrick and Browne had been
guilty
of
aserious breach
of
privilege by publishing articles intended to
influence and intimidate the member concerned in his conduct in the
House and in deliberately attempting to impute against him corrupt
conduct as amember for the express purpose
of
discrediting and silencing
him. Surely the House
and
its Committee were not wrong in acting to
protect the vital privileges
of
amember's freedom
of
speech and action
in proceedings in the
Parliament?
That
members were free to vote as
they wished is shown by the divisions in the House on the motions to
commit and by the words used that day in the House by
Mr'Holt,
now
Prime Minister,
that
he welcomed the remarks
of
the Leader
of
the
Opposition,
Dr
Evatt, about all members
of
Parliament approaching
this matter without any inhibition caused by party allegiance.
A.
G.
TURNER*
Principles
of
Australian Administrative Law, by D. G.
BENJAFIELD,
LL.B.
(Sydney), D.Phil. (Oxford), Professor
of
Law, University
of
Sydney,
and H.
WHITMORE,
LL.B.
(Sydney),
LL.M.
(Yale), Professor
of
Law,
School
of
General Studies, Australian National University, 3rd ed.
(The Law Book Company Ltd, 1966), pp. i-xxxi, 1-368. $7.50.
This work appears to be slowly evolving into atreatise
of
some
magnitude. The advance made by Benjafield in 1962 was considerable
but the third edition
is
along way ahead in both the comprehensiveness
and the depth
of
its treatment.
Although, as should be expected, the thrust
of
the book
is
still mainly
directed
at
judicial review and Crown proceedings, the introductory and
ancillary material has been expanded substantially and there is little
doubt that the first four chapters will now be
of
particular value to
students.
*C.B.E., Clerk
of
the House
of
Representatives.
To continue reading
Request your trial