Book Review: The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia Annotated
| Author | P. W. Johnston |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0067205X7400600114 |
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
1974] Book Reviews 217
length with Gleeson
v.
W illiamson2 (pages 179-180) and then in
Chapter 6 at page 195,
Mr
Hanks discusses the same case in similar
terms, but without any reference to the earlier chapter.
This book is, throughout, clearly written and easy to read: the
publishers are also to be congratulated on the attractive presentation.
The only matter of style which this reviewer found confusing was the
habit of citing some cases in the text and others in footnotes. For
example, a passage on page 90
is
set out
as
follows:
Thus hire-purchase statutes have been restricted to agreements
entered into within the enacting State.U0 Likewise workers' com-
pensation statutes have been confined to "employments" within
the enacting State: Mynott
v.
Barnard (1939) 62 C.L.R. 68 at 91.
Footnote 110 refers to Kay's Leasing Corporation Pty
Ltd
v.
Fletcher.3
This book
is
commended to all those interested in the Conflict of
Laws or in Australian Constitutional law.
It
provides a clear, concise
and accurate account of the way in which federation has impinged
upon the general rules of Private International Law applicable within
Australia, but all too often it does not provide solutions for the problems
raised, or the authors' own views on the direction which the law
might take.
J.
L. R.
DAVIS*
The Constitution
of
the Commonwealth of Australia Annotated by
R.
D.
LUMB, LL.B., LL.M. (Melb.), D.Phil.
(Oxon.);
Reader in Law,
University of Queensland and K.
W.
RYAN, B.A., LL.B.
(Qld),
Ph.D.
(Cantab.); Professor of Law, University of Queensland.
(Butterworths, 1973), pp. i-xxxii, 1-400. $21.00.
(ISBN 0 409 37880
1).
As little as a decade ago, the range of texts available to those
interested in the study of Constitutional Law was sparse indeed. Since
that time, the position has improved considerably with major texts in
the field by Sawer, Howard, Lane, Fajgenbaum and Hanks, and a
number of excellent more specialized writings from other
authors~
Whilst it
is
far from true that there
is
an embarrassment of riches in
this area, the entry into the field by
Dr
Lumb and Professor Ryan with
their text The Constitution
of
the Commonwealth
of
Australia Annotated
prompts the question whether their exposition of Australian Constitu-
tional Law adds usefully to the material now available,
or
whether it
merely duplicates material otherwise available. The short answer in the
reviewer's opinion
is
that, within the limits the authors have set them-
selves, this book should prove a serviceable addition to the literature.
2 (1972) 46 A.L.J.R. 677.
a (1964) 116 C.L.R. 124.
* Reader in Law, Australian National University.
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