Federal Constitutional Law – 86 HD Notes + Copy/Paste Exam Scaffolds 2025

Description

These are my Federal Constitutional Law notes from Semester 1 2025 (USYD LAWS2011/LAWS5011). I scored 86 (HD) using this document. It’s 159 pages, organised properly, and made to be useful in an exam (not just a dump of case summaries). If you want one set of notes that covers the course content and also gives you a structure to actually write answers under time pressure, this does both. ⸻ WHAT IS INSIDE Pages 1–134: Full topic notes All topics from the reading guide, condensed into clear, exam-usable notes. Each topic pulls together the key principles, how the tests actually work, and the cases you need to support an answer. Topics included (as per the guide): • A. Principles of constitutional interpretation; characterisation; incidental power; reading down/severance; federal distribution of power; s 51(i) trade and commerce as a worked case study • B. s 109 inconsistency • C. s 51(xxix) external affairs • D. s 51(xx) corporations power • E. s 51(xxvi) race power • F. Taxation (ss 51(ii), 55, 90) and Grants (s 96) • G. Defence power (s 51(vi)) and the doctrine in the Communist Party Case • H. s 92 freedom of interstate trade and intercourse • I. Implied freedom of political communication • J. Intergovernmental immunities (Melbourne Corporation doctrine etc) What the notes give you: • Clear explanations of the main tests and how they connect (characterisation, purposive/non-purposive, proportionality where relevant, severance, etc) • Case summaries that are written for exam use (facts/issue/held/reasoning/principles) • Pinpoints and key quotations included throughout so you can support propositions quickly ⸻ Pages 135–159: Exam scaffolds (copy/paste) This section is the “how to write it” part: structured frameworks you can copy straight into a problem question and then plug in the facts. They’re set out step-by-step, with: • clean headings in the right order • pre-built reasoning chains (so you don’t blank in the exam) • template sentences with placeholders • the key cases/principles positioned where you actually need them It’s aimed at helping you move from “I know the doctrine” to “I can write a high-mark answer fast”. ⸻ WHY IT IS HELPFUL • You’re not trying to build your own structure in week 12 • You get the whole course in one place, in a format you can actually use in an open-book exam • The scaffolds make it much easier to spot issues and write efficiently