Constitutional Law AustraliaYou are required to write a case study of the case
Love v Commonwealth(2020) 94 ALJR 198.The case study should be written in essay format. For the purposes of the case study, you need to:
1) Set out succinctly and clearly the facts and legal issues of the case.
2) Explain the High Court reasoning in the case. You should cover the reasoning of both the majority and minority judges. Please provide an opinion on whether the reasoning in the judgments was appropriate or persuasive and why.
3) Explain the significance of the case for the development of constitutional law.
4) Explain the political and/or social significance of the case. Here you could also consider whether the High Court judges took the political and/or social significance of their decision into consideration in their judgment/s.
Constitutional law cases are complex and long and you may find it difficult to work out what the judges are saying. Over the years the High Court judges have developed more accessible and structured judgment writing styles but the reasoning in these cases can still be very difficult to understand, particularly when you are encountering it for the first time. Keep in mind that you are writing a 2000 word essay and that explaining the reasoning is only one part of what you have to do. You need to be able to work out what is important and significant about the case and look for the paragraphs in each judgment in which this is covered. Then you should summarise this reasoning and think about whether the reasoning is appropriate. Do you agree with the decision? Why or why not? Do you think that the judges should have taken other factors into account? You may conclude that the reasoning of the minority judges is more persuasive or appropriate and if so you should explain this.
In addressing the political and social significance of the case, you might want to reflect upon broader issues of the dispossession of indigenous people from their land through the colonisation process, and the fact that there is no acknowledgement of this or of indigenous sovereignty in the Constitution as it currently stands.