On the International Legal Aspects of Human Dignity
Human dignity is a value of great antiquity. Dignity for the classical Roman conveyed the sense of the rank of some citizens of Roman society. Later, in the period of the Renaissance, religious writings expanded the idea of human dignity to a quality enjoyed by all, not simply an elite. The Renaissance fortified the conception of the individual's capacity, through God, to transform themselves. 
 
The second great renaissance in the life of human dignity occurred at the end of World War II. The appalling loss of civilian life during this conflict and the gruesome revelations of the treatment of minorities, most notably the evil treatment of European Jews, revived discussion of human dignity. Human dignity may have waxed and waned in legal and philosophical attention after this time. In the 1970s, one writer suggested that discussion of human dignity 'seems to have suffered the fate of notions such as virtue and honour, by simply fading into the past'. However, human dignity has enjoyed yet another renaissance over the past decades, in debates about dying with dignity and the human cloning debates of the modem Genome Era.
The United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and mental health in Australia
This thesis examines whether or not current Australian mental health legislation complies with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the CRPD) which Australia ratified on 17 July 2008. It analyses the meaning of specific provisions of the CRPD that are most relevant to persons with psychosocial disabilities. It assesses whether mental health legislation should be abolished or reformed. It argues that Australian mental health acts conflict with the CRPD and should be abolished. Given Australia's interpretative declaration on ratifying the CRPD that the CRPD allows for the involuntary detention and treatment of persons with mental disabilities, it is unlikely that mental health legislation will be abolished in Australian jurisdictions. However, this thesis argues that the CRPD provides a new and tangible normative framework for the reform of mental health laws and this thesis sets out the steps that need to be taken to ensure that persons with psychosocial disabilities have equal standing in society and are protected from being subject to differential treatment in law and practice.
The legislation in this thesis is as at 1 July 2011.
Judicial politics in Britain: Patrolling the boundaries
This study considers judicial policy‐making in Great Britain by noting the peculiarly British institutional restraints on judicial action of parliamentary sovereignty, the resulting subordination of all courts to the legislative branch and the absence of a codified charter of rights or constitution. Though there is no judicial power to annul legislative or executive actions, British courts and judges still play a small, but significant, role in policy‐making through the common law and, in particular, through judicial review of adminstrative actions. A written bill of rights would likely draw courts further into the the political arena and politicise the appointment of judges.