Professor James Allan
Garrick Professor of Law
TC Beirne School of Law
+61 7 334 69236
W261 Forgan Smith Building, St Lucia campus. Open door policy - no appointment required.
Researcher biography
Areas of interest are legal and moral philosophy, constitutional law and bills of rights.
Professor James Allan holds the oldest named chair at The University of Queensland. Before arriving in Australia in February of 2005 he spent 11 years teaching law in New Zealand at the University of Otago and before that lectured law in Hong Kong. Professor Allan is a native born Canadian who practised law in a large Toronto law firm and at the Bar in London before shifting to teaching law. He has had sabbaticals at the Cornell Law School, at the Dalhousie Law School in Canada as the Bertha Wilson Visiting Professor in Human Rights, and at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Professor Allan has published widely in the areas of legal philosophy and constitutional law, including in all the top English language legal philosophy journals in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, much the same being true of constitutional law journals as well. Professor Allan also has a sideline interest in bills of rights; he is opposed to them. Indeed he is delighted to have moved to a country without a national bill of rights. He has been actively involved in the efforts trying to stop one from being enacted here in Australia. Professor Allan's latest book is The age of foolishness: a doubter's guide to constitutionalism in a modern democracy (published 2022). Professor Allan also writes widely for newspapers and weeklies, including The Australian, The Spectator Australia and Quadrant, and since arriving here in Australia he has given or participated in more than 80 lectures, debates and talks.
| Featured projects | Duration |
|---|---|
|
Judging, bills of rights and aspects of international law The University of Queensland |
2013–2020 |
Books
Allan, James (2022). The age of foolishness: a doubter's guide to constitutionalism in a modern democracy. Washington, DC, United States: Academica Press.
Smith, Steven D., Alexander, Larry, Allan, James and Schwarzschild, Maimon (2022). A principled constitution? Four skeptical views. Lanham, Maryland, United States: Lexington Books.
Allan, James (2014). Democracy in decline: steps in the wrong direction. Montreal, QC, Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Allan, James (2011). The vantage of law: Its role in thinking about law, judging and bills of rights. Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing.
Allan, James (2002). Sympathy and antipathy: essays legal and philosophical. Aldershot, Hants, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
James Allan (1998). A Sceptical Theory of Morality and Law. 1st ed. New York: Peter Lang.
James Allan (1998). The Speluncean Case: Making Jurisprudence Seriously Enjoyable. 1st ed. Little London, UK: Barry Rose.
Book Chapters
Allan, James (2020). A Humean take on religious freedom. Forgotten freedom no more: protecting religious liberty in Australia, analysis and perspectives. (pp. 133-142) edited by Robert Forsyth and Peter Kurti. Redland Bay, QLD, Australia: Connor Court Publishing.
Allan, James (2019). The administration of Australian universities: a national scandal? Or amiss in funderland?. Campus meltdown: the deepening crisis in Australian universities. (pp. 23-42) edited by William O. Coleman. Redland Bay, QLD, Australia: Connor Court Publishing.
Allan, James (2018). Human rights, doubts and democracy. Political and legal approaches to human rights. (pp. 113-130) edited by Tom Campbell and Kylie Bourne. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315179711
Allan, James (2018). Ronald Dworkin and free speech. Dignity in the legal and political philosophy of Ronald Dworkin. (pp. 300-312) edited by Salman Khurshid, Lokendra Malik and Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Allan, James (2017). The view from down under: freedom of the press in Canada. The unfulfilled promise of press freedom in Canada. (pp. 220-232) edited by Lisa Taylor and Cara-Marie O’Hagan. Toronto, ON Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Allan, James (2016). Is talk of the quality of judging sometimes strained, feigned or not sustained?. Judicial independence: contemporary challenges, future directions. (pp. 64-75) edited by Rebecca Ananian-Welsh and Jonathan Crowe. Annandale, NSW, Australia: Federation Press.
Allan, James F. P. (2016). A professor's progress: John Smillie on Bills of Rights. The search for certainty: Essays in honour of John Smillie. (pp. 19-35) edited by Shelley Griffiths, Mark Henaghan and M.B. Rodriguez Ferrere. New Zealand: Thomson Reuters.
Allan, James (2015). The activist judge – vanity of vanities. Judicial Activism: an interdisciplinary approach to the American and European experiences. (pp. 71-87) edited by Luis Pereira Coutinho, Massimo La Torre and Steven D. Smith. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-18549-1_6
Allan, James (2011). Reasonable disagreement and the diminution of democracy: Joseph's Morally laden understanding of 'The Rule of Law'. Modern challenges to the rule of law. (pp. 79-92) edited by Richard Ekins. Wellington, New Zealand: LexisNexis New Zealand.
Allan, James (2011). Utilitarianism and liberty. Jurisprudence of Liberty. (pp. 331-342) edited by Suri Ratnapala and Gabriel A Moens. Chatswood, NSW, Australia: Lexis Nexis Butterworths.
Allan, James (2011). The curious concept of the 'living tree' (or non-locked-in) constitution. The challenge of originalism: Theories of constituional interpretation. (pp. 179-202) edited by Grant Huscroft and Bradley Miller. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139003926.010
Allan, James (2011). Statutory Bills of Rights: You read words in, you read words out, you take Parliament's clear intention and you shake it all about - Doin' the sankey hanky panky. The legal protection of Human Rights: Sceptical Essays. (pp. 108-126) edited by Tom Campbell, K. D. Ewing and Adam Tomkins. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606078.003.0006
Allan, James F. P. (2010). Dialogues concerning natural religion. 100 great books of liberty: The essential introduction to the greatest idea of Western Civilisation. (pp. 33-36) edited by Chris Berg, John Roskam and Andrew Kemp. Ballan, VIC, Australia: Connor Court Publishing.
Allan, James F. P. (2009). What's wrong about a statutory bill of rights. Don't leave us with the bill: The case against an Australian bill of rights. (pp. 83-95) edited by Julian Leeser and Ryan Haddrick. Barton, ACT, Australia: The Menzies Research Centre.
Allan, James F. P. (2009). Misgoverning universities. The Howard era. (pp. 456-468) edited by Keith Windschuttle, David Martin Jones and Ray Evans. Balmain, NSW, Australia: Quadrant Books.
Allan, James F.P. (2009). How John Howard saved the constitution. The Howard era. (pp. 57-78) edited by Keith Windschuttle, David Martin Jones and Ray Evans. Balmain, NSW, Australia: Quadrant Books.
J Allan (2008). The Travails of Justice Waldron. Expounding the Constitution. (pp. 161-183) edited by G Huscroft. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511511042.009
Allan, James (2006). Judicial appointments in New Zealand : If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done openly and directly. Appointing judges in an age of judicial power. (pp. 103-121) edited by Kate Malleson and Peter H. Russell. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Allan, J. F. P. (2004). Interpreting Statutory Bills of Rights: The Deleterious Effects of 'Do the Right Thing' Thinking. The Statute: Making and Meaning. (pp. 285-298) edited by Bigwood, R.. Wellington: LexisNexis.
Allan, J. F. P. (2003). A defence of the status quo. Protecting Human Rights: Instruments and Institutions. (pp. 175-194) edited by T. Campbell, J. Goldsworthy and A. Stone. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.
Allan, J. (2002). Rights, paternalism, constitutions and judges. Litigating rights: perspectives from domestic and international law. (pp. 29-46) edited by Grant Huscroft and Paul Rishworth. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
James Allan (2001). The Effect of a Statutory Bill of Rights Where Parliament is Sovereign: The Lesson from New Zealand. Sceptical Essays on The Human Rights Act 1998. (pp. 375-390) edited by T Campbell, KD Ewing and A Tomkins. New York: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199246687.001.0001
James Allan (1999). Lon Fuller's 'The Case of the Speluncean Explorers'. Rediscovering Fuller. (pp. 411-424) edited by W Witteveen and W van der Burg. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
James Allan (1998). A Post-Speluncean Dialogue. The Speluncean Case: Making Jurisprudence Seriously Enjoyable. (pp. 69-92) edited by James Allan. Little London, UK: Barry Rose Law Publisher.
Journal Articles
Allan, James (2023). Very high risk, very low reward: this Voice Referendum deserves to be defeated. The Australian Law Journal, 97 (6), 411-420.
Allan, James (2023). They were just seventeen, but the way they voted was way beyond compare: operating a three-decade old bill of rights in New Zealand. New Zealand Universities Law Review, 30 (3), 321-339.
Allan, James (2023). Who will guard the free speech guardians?. Australasian Parliamentary Review, 38 (2), 58-71.
Allan, James (2023). Attacking the 'New Right', Australian law reviews and the peer review process. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4383837
Allan, James (2022). A quota by any other name?. Constitutional Commentary, 37 (1), 83-96.
Allan, James (2022). Wokery and High Court 'Otherness'. The Western Australian Jurist, 12, 9-26.
Allan, James (2021). The Special Kay Defence of Non-Originalist Judges: A Serial with an Unhealthy Final Ingredient. University of Connecticut Law Review, 52 (5), 1529-1547.
Allan, James and Campbell, David (2021). Supremacy and hegemony: a reply to Palmer and Martin. Journal of Law and Society, 48 (1), 1-5. doi: 10.1111/jols.12281
Allan, James (2021). The Corona Virus: Old vs Young. Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity, 8 (2), 197-211.
Allan, James (2021). Arcioni, Crowe and Allan on Constitutional Interpretation: A Worder of Crowes. Federal Law Review, 49 (4), 499-504. doi: 10.1177/0067205X211050853
Allan, James (2020). Judit Varga, Hungary and the rule of law. Hungarian Review, 11 (2).
Allan, James (2020). A tribute to Australia's killer of 'living constitutionalism' and 'common law constitutionalism. Public Law Review, 31 (1), 86-94.
Allan, James (2020). Politicians, the Press and 'Skin in the Game'. The Western Australian Jurist, 11, 41-55.
Allan, James (2020). Constitutional interpretation wholly unmoored from constitutional text: Can the HCA fix its own mess?. Federal Law Review, 48 (1), 30-45. doi: 10.1177/0067205X19890432
Allan, James (2020). Review of Law under a Democratic Constitution: Essays in Honour of Jeffrey Goldsworthy. Public Law Review, 31 (1), 86-94.
Allan, James (2019). Reply to “How Foot Voting Enhances Political Freedom”. San Diego Law Review, 56 (4), 1121-1128.
Campbell, David and Allan, James (2019). Procedural innovation and the surreptitious creation of judicial supremacy in the United Kingdom. Journal of Law and Society, 46 (3), 347-366. doi: 10.1111/jols.12167
Allan, James (2019). In Honor of a Simple-Minded Orignalist. Constitutional Commentary, 34, 401-417.
Allan, James (2019). A Churchillian and Benthamite Defence of Democracy. San Diego Law Review, 56, 853-873.
Allan, James (2018). Informal constitutionalism and the role of politics. e-Pública, 5 (3), 60-75.
Allan, James (2018). Constitutionalism, politics and judicial power. Hungarian Review, 9 (3), 52-61.
Allan, James (2018). Democracy, liberalism and Brexit. Cardozo Law Review, 39 (3), 879-904.
Allan, James (2018). Revisiting the Hart-Devlin debate. SSRN Electronic Journal, 423-439. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3165286
Allan, James F. P. (2017). Why politics matters: a review of Why Law Matters. Jurisprudence, 9 (1), 132-137. doi: 10.1080/20403313.2017.1331632
Allan, James F. P. (2017). Do Judges Know Best? Democracy and political ignorance: why smaller government is smarter.By Ilya Somin.1 Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press. 2016 (Second Edition). Constitutional Commentary, 32, 479-492.
Allan, James (2017). One of my favorite judges: constitutional interpretation, democracy and Antonin Scalia. British Journal of American Legal Studies, 6 (1), 25-40. doi: 10.1515/bjals-2017-0003
Allan, James (2017). Revisiting the Hart-Devlin debate: at the periphery and by the numbers. San Diego Law Review, 54 (2), 423-439.
Allan, James (2017). Majoritarianism. Bond Law Review, 29 (2), 187-196. doi: 10.53300/001c.5651
Allan, James (2017). A democratic legal positivist’s defence of Scotland’s “bastard verdict”. Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, 42, 214-227.
Allan, James (2015). Against written constitutionalism. Otago Law Review, 14 (1), 191-204.
Allan, James (2015). Pusillanimous parliamentarians. Australian Parliamentary Review, 30 (2), 155-163.
Allan, James F. P. (2015). The Glorious Revolution and the Rule of Recognition. Constitutional Commentary, 30 (3), 509-520.
James Allan (2015). Australian originalism without a bill of rights: going down the drain with a different spin. The Western Australian Jurist, 6, 1-32.
Allan, James (2014). Collegiality in the Law School. University of Queensland Law Journal, 33 (2), 391-396.
Allan, James (2013). The Vantage of Law: Author's response to the commentators. Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, 38, 183-196.
Allan, James (2013). The idea of human rights. Bond Law Review, 25 (1), 1-12.
Allan, James (2013). Free speech is far too important to be left to unelected judges. The Western Australian Jurist, 4, 5-22.
Allan, James (2013). Hate speech law and disagreement. The Harm In Hate Speech. By Jeremy Waldron. Constitutional Commentary, 29 (1), 59-79.
Allan, James (2012). Reflections on 'The Concept of Law'. King's Law Journal, 23 (3), 331-343. doi: 10.5235/KLJ.23.3.329
Allan, James (2012). The view from down under: freedom of the press in Canada. Supreme Court Law Review, 58 (Constitutional Cases 2011), 147-162.
Allan, James (2012). The three 'RS' of recent Australian judicial activism: 'Roach, Rowe' and (no)'riginalism. Melbourne University Law Review, 36 (2), 743-782.
Allan, James (2012). Why Australia does not have, and does not need, a national Bill of Rights. Giornale Di Storia Constituzionale, 24, 35-45. doi: 10.1400/201152
Allan, James and Senanayake, Anthony (2012). Time and chance and the prevailing orthodoxy in legal academia happeneth to them all: a study of the top law journals of Australia and New Zealand. Adelaide Law Review, 33 (2), 519-558.
Allan, James (2010). You don't always get what you pay for: No Bill of Rights for Australia. New Zealand Universities Law Review, 24 (2), 179-196.
Allan, James (2010). Not in for a pound-in for a penny? Must a majoritarian democrat treat all constitutional judicial review as equally egregious?. King's Law Journal, 21 (2), 233-256. doi: 10.5235/096157610792240704
Allan, James (2010). Down Under Exceptionalism. University of Queensland Law Journal, 29 (1), 143-153.
Allan, James and Kirby, Michael (2009). A public conversation on constitutionalism and the judiciary between Professor James Allan and The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG. Melbourne University Law Review, 33 (3), 1032-1057.
James Allan (2009). Of newspapers and law reviews. Public Law Review, 20 (4), 251-256.
Allan, James (2009). Meagher's mischaracterisations of majoritarianism: A reply. King's Law Journal, 20 (1), 115-128. doi: 10.1080/09615768.2009.11427723
Allan, James F.P. (2009). Implied Rights and Federalism: Inventing Intentions While Ignoring Them. University of Western Australia Law Review, 34 (2), 228-237.
Allan, James F.P. (2009). Tom Campbell and Democratic Legal Positivism. Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, 34 (2009), 283-293.
Allan, James and Aroney, Nicholas (2008). An Uncommon Court: How the High Court of Australia Has Undermined Australian Federalism. Sydney Law Review, 30 (2), 245-294.
J Allan (2008). Jeremy Waldron and the Philosopher's Stone. San Diego Law Review, 45 (1), 133-162.
Allan, J. F. P., Huscroft, G. and Lynch, N. (2007). The citation of overseas authority in rights litigation in New Zealand: How much bark? How much bite?. Otago Law Review, 11 (3), 433-467.
Allan, J. F. P. (2007). Is you or is you ain't Hart's baby? Epstein's minimum content of Natural Law. Ratio Juris, 20 (2), 213-229. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9337.2007.00356.x
Allan, J. F. P. (2007). The paradox of sovereignity: Jackson and the hunt for a new rule of recognition. King's Law Journal, 18 (1), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/09615768.2007.11427662
Allan, J. F. P. (2007). Bills of rights as centralising instruments. Adelaide Law Review, 27 (1), 183-198.
Allan, James (2006). Thin beats fat yet again: Conceptions of democracy. Law and Philosophy, 25 (5), 533-559. doi: 10.1007/s10982-006-0004-x
Allan, James and Bagaric, Mirko (2006). The vacuous concept of dignity. Journal of Human Rights, 5 (2), 257-270. doi: 10.1080/14754830600653603
Allan, James (2006). A life of H.L.A. Hart: the nightmare and the noble dream. Otago Law Review, 11 (2), 327-329.
Allan, James and Huscroft, Grant (2006). Constitutional rights coming home to roost? Rights internationalism in American courts. San Diego Law Review, 43 (1), 1-59.
Allan, James (2006). Portia, Bassanio or Dick the Butcher? Constraining judges in the twenty-first century. King's College Law Journal, 17 (1), 1-26. doi: 10.1080/09615768.2006.11427627
Allan, James F. P. and Geddis, Andrew (2006). Waldron and opposing judicial review - Except, sort of, in New Zealand. New Zealand Law Journal, 2, 94-97.
Allan, J. F. P. (2006). The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and responsibilities: Exegesis and criticism. Melbourne University Law Review, 30 (3), 906-922.
Allan, J. F. P. (2005). Changing the Voting System or Creating a Brand New Highest Court - Is one more Constitutionally Fundamental than the other in a Liberal Democracy?. Otago Law Review, 11 (1), 17-31.
Allan, J. F. P. (2005). Doing Things the Hurd Way: A Map for all Reasons?. Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, 30, 59-81.
Allan, J. F. P. (2005). Human Rights - Can we afford to leave them to the judges?. Commonwealth Judicial Journal, 16 (2), 4-11.
Allan, James (2005). 'Do the right thing' judging? The High Court of Australia in Al-Kateb. University of Queensland Law Journal, 24 (1), 1-34.
Allan, James F. P. (2004). Essays, Moral, Political and Economic, S. Brittan (Edinburgh University Press, 1998). Otago Law Review, 10 (4), 677-678.
Allan, James F. P. (2004). Human Rights in Australia: Treaties, Statutes and Cases, M. Flynn (LexisNexis, 2003). University of Queensland Law Journal, 23 (1), 252-254.
Allan, James F. P. (2004). Against the Idols of the Age, D. Stove (Transaction Publishers, 1999). Otago Law Review, 11 (4), 695-697.
Allan, James (2004). An unashamed majoritarian. Dalhousie Law Journal, 27 (2), 537-553.
Allan, James (2004). Human rights in Australia: Treaties, statutes and cases. The University of Queensland Law Journal, 23 (1), 252-254.
Allan, James (2003). The author doth protest too much, methinks. New Zealand Universities Law Review, 20 (4), 519-532.
Allan, James (2003). Paying for the comfort of dogma. Sydney Law Review, 25 (1), 63-73.
Allan, J. (2003). A modest proposal. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 23 (2), 197-210. doi: 10.1093/ojls/23.2.197
Allan, James F. (2002). Parliamentary privilege: Will the empire strike back?. New Zealand Universities Law Review, 20 (2), 205-219.
Allan, J. (2002). Oh that I were made judge in the land. Federal Law Review, 30 (3), 561-576.
Allan, James F.P. (2001). Moral Conflict and Legal Reasoning, S. Veitch (Hart Publishing, 1999). Journal of Law and Society, 28 (3), 443-450.
Allan, James F. P. (2000). The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory, R. Posner (Harvard Law Review, 1998 and Harvard Unveristy Press, 1999). Otago Law Review, 9 (4), 759-765.
Allan, James (2000). A tale of two scepticisms or relying on what comes naturally or the problem with deriving an epistemology from literary theory. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 17 (2), 181-194. doi: 10.1111/1468-5930.00152
James Allan (2000). Constitutional Interpretation v Statutory Interpretation: Understanding the Attractions of 'Original Intent'. Legal Theory, 6 (1), 109-126.
Allan, James F. P. (1999). Waitangi: Morality and Reality, K. Minogue (NZBR, 1998). Otago Law Review, 9 (3), 587-593.
Allan, James F.P. (1999). Internal and Engaged or External and Detached?. Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, 12 (1 (Special Issue on Legal Theory)), 5-16.
Allan, James F.P. (1998). A Doubter's Guide to Law and Natural Rights. Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, 28 (Special Issue on Ethics and the Law), 243-262.
James Allan (1997). Hoisting Grayson with Baigent's Petard. New Zealand Bill of Rights Bulletins, 1997 (1), 13-18.
James Allan (1997). A Centenary Path of the Law. The Law Teacher, 31 (1), 30-37.
Allan, James F.P. (1997). Constitution Non Conveniens?. Anglo-American Law Review, 26 (1), 111-131.
Allan, James F.P. (1997). Legal Interpretation and the Separation of Law and Morality: A Moral Sceptic's Attack on Dworkin. Anglo-American Law Review, 26 (4), 405-430.
Allan, James F.P. (1996). The Miracle of Theism, J.L. Mackie (Clarendon Press, 1982). Otago Law Review, 8 (4), 633-636.
Allan, James F.P. (1996). Answering the Free-Rider. Auslegung, 21 (2), 99-106.
Allan, James F.P. (1996). Bills of Rights and Judicial Power - A Liberal's Quandary. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 16, 337-352.
Allan, James (1995). The concept of law. Otago Law Review, 8 (3), 441-446.
Allan, James (1993). The Hong Kong bill of rights: a comparative approach. Asia Pacific Law Review, 2 (2), 122-125.
Allan, James (1992). Report of the Australian human rights delegation to China, 14-26 July 1991. Asia Pacific Law Review, 1 (1), 132-135.
Allan, James (1990). Sanctions and rewards in the legal system: a multi-disciplinary approach. Hong Kong Law Journal, 20 (2), 266-269.
Conference Papers
Allan, James (2022). Honest interpretation and the judge's proper fealty in constitutional cases. 32nd Annual Conference of The Samuel Griffith Society, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 29 April - 1 May 2022.
Allan, James (2022). How the human rights industry failed abysmally during Covid. Mathias Corvius Collegium, Budapest, Hungary, 21 January 2022.
Allan, James (2022). What motivates written constitutionalism. Danube Institute , Budapest, Hungary, 19 January 2022.
Allan, J. (2022). Free speech is dying on campus. Hungarian Diplomatic Academy , Budapest, Hungary, 18 January 2022.
Allan, J. (2021). Moralising without skin in the game. Covid-19 Symposium, Virtual, 13 February 2021.
Allan, J. (2020). The High Court of Australia's decision in the Love case. Samuel Griffith Society, Virtual, May 2020.
James Allan (2006). Bills of Rights As Centralising Instruments. 18th Conference of The Samuel Griffith Society, University House, Canberra, ACT, 26--28 May, 2006. South Australia: The Samuel Griffith Society.