Individuals influencing law reform Flashcards
Petitions, demonstrations and use of the courts
What is a petition?
A formal, written request for parliamentary action, which contains a collection of signatures of those who support the change in law.
What do petitions allow the public to do?
Allows the public to directly inform parliament of the public’s views, and can be influential when there are many signatures.
Because they are the only direct means an individual or group can ask parliament to take action, they can sometimes be the most effective. However, they are also ineffective if there are not enough signatures. Parliament has an obligation to table petition that are presented to them and formally respond, but due to the large amount of petitions received, parliament does not have to take action and reform law.
What is a current example of use of petitons?
4th August 2022, Commonwealth government Raise the Age petition received over 200,000 Australian signatures supporting raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
What do demonstrations involve?
People collecting at a certain place to express desire for change in the law, often attracting media attention to raise awareness of an issue with the wider public
How effective are demonstrations in leading law reform?
Depending on the size, demonstrations can be effective as they show that the particular issue has widespread public support, increasing the pressure on parliament. Demonstrations can be overt and raise awareness, however they require physical attendance and can be difficult to organise, are impacted by weather and location. Furthermore, they can attract negative media attention or face public backlash if they are violent or cause significant inconvenience to the public. Finally, if the demonstrations are small, they can be easily ignored by the public.
What is an example of a demonstration?
In 2019 and 2020, demonstrations were held for actions taken against climate change, where many students took the day of school to attend. Furthermore, a group called the extinction rebellion held protests to interrupt peak hour traffic in the CBD, causing significant public backlash and inconvenience, but leading to legislative change since for climate actions.
How can an individual use the courts to influence reform?
If an existing law is unfair or unclear, a person may challenge the validity of this law through the court system. Law reform may occur through declaring laws ultra vires, rendering old laws invalid and sometimes resulting in new laws to replace the invalid ones. Another way that law may be reformed is through the judge’s power of statutory interpretation, where the applications of law may be changed, or words may be clarified. This may occur in the narrowing or broadening of applications of law, leading to law reform in parliament.
However, parliament can abrogate a judge’s interpretation of the law if it is inconsistent with how parliament believes it should be interpreted (unless it is a High Court interpretation of the Constitution). Furthermore, individuals may be limited in their ability to bring a case to court, as they must possess standing, adequate time for a court case and enough money.
The judges may make decisions or comments to influence law reform in parliament, however parliament does not have to act on any suggestions made by the courts. If a court challenge is unsuccessful, it may gain significant media coverage and increase awareness on the issue, creating pressure on parliament to change the law.
