Full Description
This title was first published in 2000. In 1992, the High Court of Australia declared that the Australian Constitution contained an implied principle of freedom of political communication. Since then, the concept of free speech and the social and political values underlying it have been topics of special significance for Australian lawyers and legal commentators around the world. Analysis of them is essential to the assessment of restrictions on free speech imposed by Australian law. This book is the first available to address freedom of speech from an Australian perspective. In doing so, it outlines relevant aspects of the rich array of American legal and political principles relating to freedom of speech and examines their applicability in Australia. In addition to constitutional law, the specific areas of Australian law discussed are defamation, racial vilification and contempt of court in its application to media coverage of criminal cases
Contents
Contentsconstitutional freedom for political communication; Privileges and freedoms for defamatory political speech; The money or the truth: reforming defamation law; Racist speech: civil remedies to promote civility; OJ and the dingo: media publicity for criminal cases tried by jury; Who benefits from freedom of speech?; Index.
