A Mostly Purposivist Century: Theories of Constitutional Interpretation in the 1800s

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Figura
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Interpretation

The Functional Constitution: Re-Reading the 2014 High Court Constitutional Term

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind Dixon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Constitutional Interpretation ◽  
High Court ◽  
Functionalist Approach

A ‘functional’ approach to constitutional interpretation is well-accepted in many other jurisdictions, including the United States, and offers a promising middle path between the extremes of pure formalism and pragmatism. It is, however, under-developed as an approach to constitutional interpretation, rather than doctrine, in Australia. The article offers an exploration of what it would mean to adopt a more explicitly functionalist approach to the interpretation of the Constitution, drawing on constitutional cases decided by the High Court in 2014.

Performance and Pragmatism in Constitutional Interpretation

1990 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-112
Author(s):  
Peter H. Halewood
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
Constitutional Interpretation ◽  
Moral Ideals ◽  
Interpretive Turn

Is there the possibility of a critical standpoint from which to adjudicate the correctness or validity of constitutional interpretation? This basic question has been given considerable attention in contemporary constitutional theory and has been the focus of the pragmatist law as literature movement born of the interpretive turn in legal theory. At issue is the very purpose of constitutional practice: is it to recover the truth of a set of foundational, moral ideals from the constitution and apply it to a particular factual conflict? Or is it to preserve continuity between the various elements of our cultural practices, to keep the peace?

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