The Practice of Comparative Law by the Supreme Courts of Australia and New Zealand

The work does not seek to carefully examine all the judgments where the apical courts have resorted to comparative law, nor deal with the complex theoretical issues underlying the solutions occasionally adopted, but will take an historical and diachronic approach. It will focus on the major changes that the Australian and New Zealand courts of last resort have undergone, with the aim of comparing different approaches to foreign legal systems. Insights will be offered on how the apical courts carry out their careful diachronic examination - which is also relevant when they make a synchronic comparison with other systems deemed to be similar – by focusing specifically on the historical roots of the legal systems under examination and their guiding principles.