Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth (1951) 83 CLR 1, also known as the The Communist Party Case, was a legal case of the High Court of Australia
Background
Taking advantage of Cold War concerns. Prime Minister Menzies enacted legislation to outlaw the Communist Party. The legislation also put restrictions on who could hold office in trade unions. The governments claim was that it had the power to do so under section 51vi (defence power) of the Australian Constitution.
Decision
The Court decided that the Federal Parliament did not have the power to pass the legislation, and that it was for the people, at elections, to reject parties which may be viewed as extremist.Aftermath
Menzies sough to amend the Constitution to empower his legislation. However he was frustrated by Dr. H. V. Evatt.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday May 30, 2008 at 10:34:15 PDT (GMT -0700)
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Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth (1951) 83 CLR 1, also known as the The Communist Party Case, was a legal case of the High Court of Australia
Background
Taking advantage of Cold War concerns. Prime Minister Menzies enacted legislation to outlaw the Communist Party. The legislation also put restrictions on who could hold office in trade unions. The governments claim was that it had the power to do so under section 51vi (defence power) of the Australian Constitution.
Decision
The Court decided that the Federal Parliament did not have the power to pass the legislation, and that it was for the people, at elections, to reject parties which may be viewed as extremist.Aftermath
Menzies sough to amend the Constitution to empower his legislation. However he was frustrated by Dr. H. V. Evatt.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday May 30, 2008 at 10:34:15 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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