BA, LLB (UNSW); LLM, JSD (Columbia); FASSA, FAAL
,
Law and Legal Studies
2017
Adrienne Stone’s work encompasses constitutional law and theory in Australia and globally. Within these fields, she has made wide ranging contributions on freedom of speech, judicial review and constitutional reasoning.
In Australian constitutional law her contributions include a significant challenge to orthodox accounts of reasoning in the High Court, arguing for greater attention to matters of value and substance over formal reasoning. In relation to the constitutional protection of freedom of expression, she has argued for a broad and substantive understanding which brings Australian constitutional law closer to the constitutional law of other countries. In addition, she has made significant contribution to understanding of proportionality analysis, the dominant technique for rights interpretation in constitutional law world. Her early work on this form of reasoning is widely recognised as identifying methodological challenges now squarely faced by Australian Courts. Stone’s work on the theoretical justification for constitutional review also challenges widespread assumptions in constitutional theory directing attention to the challenges posed by the judicial enforcement of constitutional structures as well as rights.
In addition, she has made significant contributions to the understanding of freedom of expression in globally by progressing the development of a broader comparatively informed understanding of freedom of expression and in Australia by identifying competing conceptions of freedom of expression that underscore the High Court’s work and providing scholarly analyses of public controversies.
Her work has been highly influential upon the judiciary, achieving explicit recognition in the High Court of Australia. She is regularly consulted by government bodies in relation to constitutional law, free speech and academic freedom and has played a significant role as a public commentator on these questions.
Chair, Advisory Board, Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney
Editorial and Advisory Board, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law
Editorial and Advisory Board, Cambridge Studies in Constitutional Law
Editorial and Advisory Board, Public Law Review
Melbourne Laureate Professor 2022
Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow (Australian Research Council 2016).
Fellow, Australian Academy of Law (elected 2010).
Associate Member, International Association of Comparative Law (elected 2011).
1. Carolyn Evans and Adrienne Stone, Open Minds: Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech (Black Inc, 2020).
2.Cheryl Saunders and Adrienne Stone, Oxford Handbook on the Australian Constitution (OUP,2018).
2. Viewpoint Discrimination, Hate Speech Laws and the Double-Sided Nature of Freedom of Speech’ Constitutional Commentary (forthcoming 2017).
3. ‘The Small Brown Bird: Values, Aspirations and the Australian Constitution’ (2016) 14, International Journal of Constitutional Law (with Elisa Arcioni) 60-79.
4. Judicial Review without Rights, (2008) 28 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 1-32.
5. The Limits of Constitutional Text and Structure (1999) 23 Melbourne University Law Review 668 - 708.