Justiciability as a Constitutional Limitation on Federal Jurisdiction

Abstract

Justiciability, or non-justiciability, has been regarded as a difficult and indeterminate concept in Australia. This article provides a definition of justiciability in order to clarify the interaction of justiciability with the grant of federal jurisdiction in Chapter III of the Constitution, as well as with related doctrines, such as the act of state doctrine and the American political question doctrine. It argues that justiciability is a constitutional limitation on federal jurisdiction to matters that are capable of being resolved by the exercise of federal judicial power. Accordingly, broad statements that certain subject matters are always non-justiciable should be rejected. Instead, it is necessary to demonstrate exactly what grounds a matter is said to be non-justiciable, arising from the text and structure of the Constitution.