This is a contemporary legal history book for Australian law students, written in an engaging style and rich with learning features and illustrations. The writers are a unique combination of talents, bringing together their fields of research and teaching in Australian history, British constitutional history and modern Australian law. The first part provides the social and political contexts for legal history in medieval and early modern England and America, explaining the English law which came to Australia in 1788. This includes:The origins of the common lawThe growth of the legal professionThe making of the Magna Carta The English Civil Wars The Bill of RightsThe American War of Independence.The second part examines the development of the law in Australia to the present day, including:The English criminal justice system and convict transportationThe role of the Privy Council in 19th century Indigenous Australia in the colonial period The federation movementConstitutional Independence The 1967 Australian referendum and the land rights movement.The comprehensive coverage of several centuries is balanced by a dynamic writing style and tools to guide the student through each chapter including learning outcomes, chapter outlines and discussion points. The historical analysis is brought to life by the use of primary documentary evidence such as charters, statutes, medieval source books and Coke's reports, and a series of historical cameos - focused studies of notable people and issues from King Edward I and Edward Coke to Henry Parkes and Eddie Mabo - and constitutional detours addressing topics such as the separation of powers, judicial review and federalism.A Legal History for Australia is an engaging textbook, cogently written and imaginatively resourced and is supported by a companion website: https://bloomsburyonlineresources.com/a-legal-history-for-australia

1. The Origins of the Common Law IntroductionThe Sources for Medieval Legal History Documentary Evidence Treatises Educational Law and Governance in Pre-Conquest EnglandImpact of the Norman Conquest Feudalism Centralisation of Royal Justice Juries Instruments of Justice Experiences of Justice In the Wake of Magna Carta Thirteenth Century Law From the Middle Ages to Mabo Conclusion 2. The Intellectual Life of the Law and Lawyers from the Middle Ages to Edward Coke IntroductionThe Crown and the Courts The King's JudgesForms of Action and Types of Court Jurisdiction of the Royal Courts Being in a Medieval Court Trespass: The Versatile Action The Humber Ferry Case The Legal Profession and its Education Law Reporting The Year Books Nominate Reports Official Reports Assumpsit Again: Slade's Case and the Law in Tudor England Slade's Case, 1597-1602 Conclusion 3. The English Revolutions: Parliament, the King and the Law Courts IntroductionLaw and Religion: Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries The Ecclesiastical High Commission The Crown and Common Law Equity and the Common Law Chancery Star Chamber and Court of Requests The Common Law and Parliament The King and Parliament Parliament and the Common Law Law and the English Civil Wars The Interregnum, 1649-60 The Restoration (1660) The Glorious Revolution Before the Revolution Aft er the Revolution Conclusion 4. Responsible Government, Law and Justice in Eighteenth-Century England IntroductionThe Act of Settlement 1701 The Protestant Succession The Acts of Union 1707 Emergence of Responsible Government The Office of Prime Minister Cabinet Government Criminal Law and Criminal Trials in the Eighteenth Century Developments in Criminal Law Public Execution and Justice The Reception of English Law Abroad Abolition of the Slave Trade Conclusion 5. The American Constitutional Settlement IntroductionThe Stamp Act Furore The Boston Tea Party and the Intolerable Acts The First Continental Congress The Declaration of Independence The Articles of Confederation The Constitution of the United States Two Early Political Factions: Federalists and Democratic-RepublicansConclusion 6. Reform of British Parliament, Society and Courts in Nineteenth-Century England IntroductionReform of the Courts The Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Courts of Common Law and Equity The Judicature Acts Reform of the British Parliament: Modern Political Parties Catholic Emancipation and Jewish Relief The Great Reform Act 1832 The Second Reform Acts of 1867-68 Later Nineteenth-Century Reforms Codification Movement Law and Society in the Nineteenth Century Conclusion 7. The Reception of English Law in Australia IntroductionThe Eighteenth-Century Context: Idealism and Slavery The English Criminal Justice System and Convict Transportation Convicts' Rights The Governor's Powers Early Colonial Legal System The Court of Criminal Judicature The Court of Civil Jurisdiction The First Supreme Court of New South Wales The New South Wales Act 1823, the Third Charter of Justice and the Supreme Court of New South Wales The Legal Profession in New South Wales: 1788-1859Reception of English Law Conclusion 8. Self-Government and Law in Colonial Australia IntroductionThe End of an Era: Convict Transportation The Amateur Magistracy in the Colonies The Path to Responsible Government: 1823-50 The New South Wales Act 1823 Australian Courts Act 1828 New South Wales Constitution Act 1842 Australian Constitutions Act 1850 Representative and Responsible Government from 1850 Bicameralism Separation, Responsible Government and Unicameralism in QueenslandColonial Laws Validity Act 1865 Manner and Form The Federal Idea and the Federal Council of Australasia Conclusion 9. Indigenous Australia and the Law in the Colonial Period IntroductionAboriginal Australia before European Contact International Law by 1787 Settlement, Conquest and Cession Early Contact: British Sovereignty? A New Legal Fiction The Myall Creek Massacre and Trials 'One Law for All' in Other Australian Colonies The Melanesian Labour Trade Annexation of the Torres Strait Islands to Queensland Conclusion 10. Federation IntroductionThe Federation Movement Influence of the United States Constitution and Canada's British North America Act 1867 Federation Debates Australasian Federation Conference, 1890 National Australasian Convention, 1891 Corowa Federation Conference, 1893 National Australasian Convention, 1897-98 Referenda on the Constitution BillThe Commonwealth of Australia The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) High Court of Australia The Privy Council's Continuing Role Investing Federal Jurisdiction in State Supreme Courts: The 'Autochthonous Expedient' The Office of Governor-General Conclusion 11. Australian Constitutional Independence and Legal Developments of the Twentieth Century IntroductionWhite Australia Policy Immigration Restriction Act 1901 The Case of Egon Kisch Changing Views of States' Rights Case Study of Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd Constitutional Independence in Australia Treaty of Versailles 1919 Balfour Declaration of 1926 Statute of Westminster 1931 Australia in World War II: The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Cth)Judicial Review During the Cold War The Dismissal of Gough Whitlam Commonwealth and State Alignment: Australia Acts 1986 Termination of Privy Council Appeals The Mason Court Conclusion 12. The Painful Legacy of Colonialism: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and the Law in Modern Australia Introduction1967 Australian Referendum Indigenous Australians and the Right to Vote Amending the Constitution The Gove Land Rights Case Land Rights Movement The Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen Mabo v Queensland (No 1) Mabo v Queensland (No 2) Native Title at Last! The Legal Foundations of the Stolen Generations and Stolen Wages Stolen Generations Stolen Wages Deaths in Custody Indigenous Sentencing Courts The Northern Territory Intervention The Uluru Statement from the Heart Conclusion