Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis This subject offer a comparative study of the societies, governments and legal systems of several Pacific states, including Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Western Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, Micronesia, the French Pacific and other island states and territories, and Australia itself - in a region with which the interests of Australia are increasingly identified. The subject looks critically approaches to law in changing societies, such as `law and development' and `legal pluralism'. It examines the meaning of `state' and `sovereignty' in micro-states, and in the light of movements for independence and secession and assertions of indigenous rights. The significance of the High Court Mabo decision and the New Zealand Waitangi Tribunal are considered. Four themes are taken. (a) The law of government and constitutions: the adaptation of traditional institutions; the colonial imprint; constitutional issues including the rights of people, the checking of power and constitutional change. (b) The nature and status of customary law and its procedures, including dispute settlement. (c) Economic and property law: land rights and tenure systems; current issues such as the rights and status of women and the law relating to foreign investment, tax shelters, natural resources and the environment. (d) The international law of the region; decolonisation; creation and succession of states; law of the sea, fishing and pollution control; human rights; Pacific regionalism.
Assessment Class test: 10% + Research paper (8000 words): 80%) + `Work-in-progress' presentation: 10%