Legal Theory, Legal History, and Critical Perspectives on Law

 We provide critical perspectives on the nature of law and explore the
history of law as it has been implemented in diverse political and social environments.

Our world-leading research into the nature and history of law examines such diverse fields as:

  • legal theory and jurisprudence
  • property theory
  • environmental theory
  • international economic and human rights law, business and human rights, development economics, and global governance
  • legacies of European colonialism for modern laws and societies
  • the work of Jeremey Bentham and William Blackstone
  • corruption, political and judicial, in early modern England
  • comparative commercial law in the pursuit of better protection for consumers and small businesses
  • public law and in particular Australian constitutional law, The High Court of Australia
  • comparative constitutional law, federalism and legal history
  • water law and the regulation of the Murray-Darling.

Our work draws upon interdisciplinary materials from sociology, political science, economics, philosophy, and history.

This research area is partly undertaken by the Research Unit for the Study of Society, Ethics, and Law (RUSSEL).

Our projects

Further information

Professor Paul Babie
paul.babie@adelaide.edu.au
08 8313 5521

Joshua Curtis
Joshua.curtis@adelaide.edu.au
08 8313 6302