Secondary Rules

Is it over now?

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 20:25:00 +0000

In our season finale, our 'big idea’ is ‘THE CONSTITUTION’: Joshua and Ryan offer a cruel and unusual discussion of constitutional change, foreign powers, the role of “random” unelected judges, and apologise to our French and Tasmanian listeners.

Our reading for this week:

The 8th Amendment

Sue v Hill (1999)

Breyer and Scalia on Judicial Interpretation

Learn more about ANU Law here. Our thanks to the ANU College of Law and the ANU Centre for Learning and Teaching. The ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to elders past and present.

Sovereignty on the Beach

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 20:30:00 +0000

This week’s ‘big idea’ is ‘SOVEREIGNTY’: Joshua and Ryan discuss Churchill, Guantanamo Bay, and Australian history.
Our reading for this week:

Churchill’s 'Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat' speech

Carl Schmitt in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
“Even two world wars could not stop Australians casting their ballots, whether at home or on the battlefield” (Australian War Memorial)

How You Get The Vote

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:30:00 +0000

This week’s ‘big idea’ is ‘DEMOCRACY’: Joshua and Ryan discuss Ancient Athenian hillsides, marketing scams, Hare Clark with a Robson Rotation, and why Joshua doesn’t trust his neighbours. Our reading for this week:

The Gettysburg Address (1863) | Constitution Center (Lincoln)

How is the UK’s Brexit referendum different from Australian referendums? (Goss)

The Tally Room podcast (Raue)

Staters Gonna State

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Thomas Fearon) — Fri, 4 Oct 2024 21:30:00 +0000

This week’s ‘big idea’ is ‘The State’: Joshua and Ryan talk about mutual protection, whether states need territory, who is on the other side of the breathalyser, and what the French have to learn from giant sea monsters.

Our reading for this week:

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia

Leviathan (Wikipedia)

Look What The Law Made Me Do

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 21:00:00 +0000

This week’s ‘big idea’ is ‘The Rule of Law’: Joshua and Ryan thinking about chickens and ducks, the laws of cricket, and the mafia; and Joshua offers a few gratuitous reflections on the French.

Further reading for this week:

I Look in People's Windows

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 21:00:00 +0000

Secondary Rules returns for a new season! This week, our ‘big idea’ is ‘The People’: Joshua and Ryan thinking about revolutions in France, the US and beyond; why it’s a bad idea to make big decisions on an empty stomach; and how everything comes back to the Parting of the Red Sea.

For more, check out:

Hannah Arendt (1963)

Independence National Historic Park, Pennsylvania

The Tortured Lawyers Department

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Thomas Fearon) — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 21:00:00 +0000

Here’s the long-awaited trailer for the third season of ANU Law’s Secondary Rules podcast — coming soon!

Make sure you’re following or subscribed so you get the new episodes as soon as they land. Catch up on our back catalogue at https://secondary-rules.simplecast.com

Secondary Rules is hosted by ANU Law's Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss. Learn more about ANU Law here. Our thanks to the ANU College of Law and the ANU Centre for Learning and Teaching. The ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to elders past and present.

Mabo v Queensland

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 19:00:00 +0000

How a conversation at James Cook University led to the most momentous decision in Australian legal history.

Read the judgment
Watch the movie (only accessible via ABC iView in Australia)
Read an interview with Mabo counsel, Ron Castan

Learn more about the ANU College of Law here. Our thanks to the ANU College of Law Marketing and Communications team. ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to elders past and present.

Mazibuko v City of Johannesburg

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 6 Oct 2023 19:00:00 +0000

Water under the bridge, and judges kissing babies, in this episode of Secondary Rules. What business do Courts have thinking about socio-economic rights? Can a Constitution transform a society, and can litigation safeguard a democracy? All this and more as we consider the right to water in the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Rome v Jesus

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 20:00:00 +0000

The trial that changed the world. A Jewish rabble-rouser came face-to-face with a provincial Roman governor. He was hanged. But his death was not the end. It was just the beginning. Spikenard not included.

For a cosmic interpretation, see Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004).
For a comic interpretation, see Monty Python’s Life of Brian(1979).

Australian Capital Television v Commonwealth

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 20:00:00 +0000

‘Directly chosen’ for your enjoyment, this week we look at a case about free speech in a democratic society (and Joshua is a harsh marker of Ryan’s work), all of it ‘unaccompanied by moving images or other vocal sounds’.

ACTV v Cth(1992)
“Whither the Implied Freedom of Political Communication?” (2022 paper) Nettle J

Indira Gandhi v Director of the Islamic Department

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 1 Sep 2023 20:00:00 +0000

Long live the common law! This week we look at the fascinating Malaysian Federal Court decision in Indira Gandhi v Director of the Islamic Department.

Indira Gandhi v Director of the Islamic Department(2018, Federal Court of Malaysia)
J Neoh, Legitimacy of the Common Law in Post-Colonial Malaysia [2010] LAWASIA 59

Canadian Patriation Reference

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 20:00:00 +0000

Bonjour et bienvenue: how do you change the way a constitution changes, without being sure how to change the constitution? In each episode of Season 2, we tell the story of a great landmark court decision from around the world. This week we look at the fascinating Supreme Court of Canada decision in the Patriation Reference (1981).

Patriation Reference(Re Resolution to amend the Constitution)(SCC, 1981)
The Constitution Acts(1867, 1982)
Ahmed, Albert & Perryarticle (2019)

Donoghue v Stevenson

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 20:00:00 +0000

Ginger beer, the 'nauseating sight' of a snail, the Good Samaritan, and the genius of the common law: it’s all here in the House of Lords’ decision in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562.

Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)
Justice Keane on the great Queenslander, Lord Atkin (2017)

McCann v United Kingdom

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 22:00:00 +0000

In each episode of Season 2, we’ll tell the story of a great landmark court decision from Australia or around the world. This week: terrorism on the streets of Gibraltar and the right to life, in the European Court of Human Rights' decision in McCann and Others v United Kingdom (21 ECHR 97 GC).

Brown v. Board of Education

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 4 Aug 2023 22:00:00 +0000

This week, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss delve deep into one of the most pivotal cases in American legal history: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Discover how the case forever changed the landscape of education and civil rights in the United States through its ruling that state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional.

The Lord Peach Carries the Sword of Mercy

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Tue, 2 May 2023 14:00:00 +0000

This week, on a special mini episode of Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about the Coronation of Australia’s Head of State, King Charles III, which takes place abroad this weekend. Further reading:

House of Commons Library Guide to the Coronation (2023)
Australia and the Coronation (Prime Minister and Cabinet)
Coronation Quiche
The Coronation Cases of 1902

The End of the Beginning

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 21:00:00 +0000

This week on the last Secondary Rules for 2022, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk Revelation, revolutions, recidivism, and Rishi.

Remember to take our survey!

Revelation (c AD 95)
Garlett v WA (2022)
Joshua’s new book!

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Learn more about the ANU College of Law here. Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law. ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Trussed and Quartered

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 21:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk dual-citizenship and the stripping of “foreign fighters” citizenship, the decline and fall of Liz Truss, and torture in an age of terror.

Take our survey!

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Lest Ye Be a Judge

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 13:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk panopticon and the pandemic, how we get our High Court judges, and offer some generalisations about French philosophers and the US Senate.

Stare Indecisis

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 7 Oct 2022 21:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, an unprecedented Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss discussion about precedent, when Courts change their minds, and how legal systems sit alongside one another. Thrown in along the way: a dramatic HCA transcript reenactment and a look at upcoming US Supreme Court cases.

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Crisis and Catharsis

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 22:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about Pape & the Pope: how law is like scripture, who gets to decide when there is an emergency, and Justice Jayne Jagot.

Neoh, Law, Love, and Freedom (2019)
Martin Luther’s 95 Theses (1517)
Pape (2009)
Belmarsh Case (2004)
Appointment of Justice Jagot ovens on accountability (2007)

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Wide Sargasso Sea

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 22:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss discuss the theatrical spectacle of Question Time and its constitutional purpose, and activate book club mode to think about why law is like a novel.

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Small Brown Bird

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 14:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about the Britishness (or Australianness) of the monarchy, cash and coins, and reflect a little on why public law matters.

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

King Charles III

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Fri, 9 Sep 2022 21:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about the monarchy, the Queen, the King, and reflect on why legal theory matters.

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Penguin Senators

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Ryan Goss, Joshua Neoh) — Sat, 3 Sep 2022 06:22:06 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about why we ought to obey the law, the interaction between law and morality, the Territories as ‘constitutional teenagers’, and why this is (probably) the nation’s preeminent weekly territory-law podcast.

Hart in the Harvard Law Review (1958)
Fuller in the Harvard Law Review (1958)
First Territory Senators Case (1975)
Rubenstein, It’s time to give the ACT and NT stronger voices in parliament (15 Aug)
Alicia Payne and Luke Gosling's territory euthanasia rights debate to start in Senate (Canberra Times, 31 August)
The Constitution

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

My Hart will go on

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Thomas Fearon) — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 14:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about parliamentary sovereignty, the latest on Scott Morrison’s secret ministries, what H.L.A. Hart had to say about Joshua’s driving, and why this podcast is called Secondary Rules in the first place.

Goss, What Do Australians Talk About When They Talk About ‘Parliamentary Sovereignty’?
Dicey, Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution
Solicitor-General’s Opinion, August 2022.
Hart, The Concept of Law
Green and Adams, "Legal Positivism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019)

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Ministry of Secrets

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 14:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about Rousseau’s views on rabbits, the Governor-General, and Scott Morrison’s secret ministries.

Rousseau: ”A Discourse Upon The Origin And The Foundation Of The Inequality Among Mankind”
Neoh: “Law, love, and freedom”
Prof Anne Twomey: “Explainer: Scott Morrison was sworn in to several portfolios other than prime minister during the pandemic. How can this be done?”
ABC interview with Prof Luke Beck: “Unanswered questions in Morrison ministerial controversy - ABC Radio National”
Beck: “Parliament must act to ensure Australia never has ‘secret ministers’ again”
UNSW Gilbert + Tobin Centre for Constitutional Law: Video of expert panel on the current constitutional issues surrounding former Prime Minister Scott Morrison

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Hobbled by Hobbes

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 22:53:07 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about voting rights under the Constitution (should 6-year-olds have the vote?), Prince Charles’ qualifications to be our next Head of State, and look at why Hobbes thought none of us can sleep soundly.

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Athens on the Molonglo

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Thomas Fearon) — Thu, 4 Aug 2022 14:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about law and forgiveness in the ancient Greek plays of the Oresteia; federalism in the age of Covid; and touch on the PM’s speech about a referendum on the Voice.

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Crafty Serpent

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Joshua Neoh, Ryan Goss) — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 14:00:00 +0000

This week on Secondary Rules, Joshua Neoh and Ryan Goss talk about constitutionalism, constitutional change, and the crafty serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Waluchow on Constitutionalism

Extract from the book of Genesis

If you're a student in Australian Public Law or Legal Theory this semester, more available on the course WATTLE sites.

Interested in starting your own law studies or learning more about our legal research? Learn more here.

Our thanks to Jack O’Brien, Tom Fearon, and the ANU College of Law for their production of the podcast. Our theme music is by Soul Shifters.

ANU acknowledges and celebrates the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet, and pays our respect to Elders past and present.

Trailer: Welcome to Secondary Rules

thomas.fearon@anu.edu.au (Thomas Fearon) — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 14:00:00 +0000

It's here! Welcome to Secondary Rules, a new podcast presented by Associate Professors Ryan Goss and Joshua Neoh. Listen as they preview what you can expect each week as they unpack timely developments in Australian public law and legal theory.