Avoiding a ‘Catch 22’: Major Lessons From a Meta-Analysis of Reports of the Parliament of Western Australia on Threats to Sovereignty by National Uniform Legislation

Guzyal Hill

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    Abstract

    National uniform legislation has served as an instrument to
    attune federalism to new realities. The enactment of national
    uniform legislation is not a panacea. However, it is critical that
    when harmonisation is necessary, it is efficient and effective,
    results in long-lasting uniformity and does not encroach on the
    sovereignty of the State and Territory Parliaments. The problem
    is that national uniform legislation is often called to address
    complex legal issues, respond to a multifaceted debate and meet
    the demands of actors from divergent ideological backgrounds.
    This testing backdrop results in politically charged arguments
    that often is presented as a false dilemma between sovereignty
    and national uniform legislation, ‘catch 22’. To date, there has
    been lack of systematic objective analysis on what would be an
    example of this encroachment on sovereignty before the
    allegation of encroachment arise in the State or Territory
    Parliaments. This article seeks to address this gap through
    empirical methods. To ensure objectivity, a meta-analysis of 173
    reports was undertaken. Contrary to political statements, the
    empirical findings suggest the cases of encroachment were rare
    and were isolated to specific practices. Legislative drafters,
    policymakers and law reformers must refrain from these
    practices if they wish to avoid the ‘catch 22’ of choosing
    between uniformity and sovereignty
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)37
    Number of pages31
    JournalBond Law Review
    Volume33
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 8 Feb 2021

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