in the form of original jurisdiction, on the High Court. It says:
In all matters –
(i)
Arising under any treaty:
(ii)
Affecting consuls or other representatives of other countries:
(iii)
In which the Commonwealth, or a person suing or being sued on behalf of the
Commonwealth, is a party:
(iv)
Between States, or between residents of different States, or between a State and a
resident of another State:
(v)
In which a writ of Mandamus or prohibition or an injunction is sought against an officer of
the Commonwealth:
the High Court shall have original jurisdiction.
Prohibitions
Prohibitions are the reverse of powers -
they deprive an institution of power.
They forbid a legislature to legislate on certain matters, they forbid a court to
hear certain types of cases or they forbid an official or institution in executive
government to exercise a certain power. One common reason for a
constitution to contain prohibitions is to protect human rights. Some
Constitutions have a collection of such prohibitions to protect human right, the
collection being labelled a bill of rights. A bill of rights protects human rights
by denying institutions of governments powers to take action that infringe the
rights specified in the bill.
In its most direct and simple form a prohibition restrains the institution from
exercising power that would infringe a designated liberty. A classic example is
the First Amendment (or Amendment 1
in strict terminology) of the United
States Constitution. It is addressed to the Congress and provides as follows:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Sometimes a prohibition is imposed in less direct form. For example s92 of
the Australian Constitution provides that “trade, commerce and intercourse
among the States whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation
shall be absolutely free”. This creates a prohibition by forbidding any action
by any institution of government (and possibly also by a citizen) that infringes
this right.
Procedures
Procedural provisions (also called procedural or adjectival laws) determine
procedures for institutions to follow when exercising their powers. These
procedures can be either internal (that is for running the institution) or external
(that is for the institution to use in doing its business) although external
procedures tend to attract more attention. The consequence of not using the
 |
 |
 |