Melbourne Law School - Theses
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ItemPolitical dissent, law and legitimacy in China's Hong Kong( 2023-11)Hong Kong’s mass protest movements of the 2010s triggered clampdowns on fundamental rights, the closure of the political system, the denunciation of politically incorrect ideas, and the retreat of regional autonomy in favour of sovereign state power. This research challenges mainstream claims that Hong Kong’s rule of law was in good health during this period. It argues that by 2020 Hong Kong’s once-trusted legal institutions had reached a crisis of legitimacy due to sustained pressure from authoritarian politics. It substantiates the argument via an examination of law’s interactions with, and responses to, political dissent. Legitimacy, the extent to which an entity rightfully exercises its power, is central to the thesis. Drawing on literature on political legitimacy, democracy and authoritarianism, and the rule of law, I propose an original, multifaceted model for political and legal legitimacy. It comprises two main categories, intrinsic legitimacy and consequential legitimacy—or legitimacy drivers and effects—the presence or absence of which is indicative of an entity’s legitimacy. I posit that democratic systems have greater intrinsic legitimacy, largely derived from consent, and consequential legitimacy, with benefits including stability and liberty, compared with authoritarian systems where dissent and its suppression indicate illegitimacy. Legal legitimacy rests on comparable bases, with adherence to rule of law principles being a particularly important component of intrinsic legitimacy, and consequential legitimacy including rights protection and moderation of executive authority. Chapter 1 introduces the research and provides background on Hong Kong. Chapter 2 explains and justifies the analytical framework and outlines the legitimacy models of China and Hong Kong. The next four chapters are case studies of conflict, whereby political dissent triggering a politico-legal state response with legitimacy implications. Chapter 3 examines the use of national symbols to express dissent. It argues that contrary legislation protected an ideocratic authoritarian aesthetic lacking legitimacy in Hong Kong. The courts upheld that legislation in deference to political power, facilitating further repression and diminishing their rights-protection and independent institutional credentials. Chapter 4 considers protests before and during the 2014 protests, then before and during the 2019 protests. It argues that public order legislation, police conduct and political intransigence were contrary to norms and expectations shared by Hongkongers and the international community. The courts’ inconsistent record upholding protest freedoms and regulating contentious politics diminished their authority. Chapter 5 charts the state’s efforts to close down political opposition, demonstrating a retreat from democratic to authoritarian political ideals. In the face of executive power, the courts were unable to maintain their independent authority, and their rationalisation efforts rendered them agents of state authority. Chapter 6 completes the picture of a judiciary powerless to limit the state’s deployment of exceptional measures despite the excessive nature and popular rejection of those measures. The thesis concludes that Hong Kong’s legal apparatus, under pressure from authoritarian politics, wavered in its commitment to upholding rights and regulating power, detracting from its legitimacy, while fidelity to law’s technical requirements in furtherance of a repressive, undemocratic political agenda was also damaging to legal legitimacy.
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ItemPatent Grip: The Marketplace Making of Patent Law's Subjects( 2023-09)This work demonstrates that the grip of patent laws has to do with the development of market relations. It contrasts the core of patent law, namely, the concept of “invention”, with that epistemological form often cast as the defining “other” of invention, namely, the concept of “traditional knowledge” (TK). It finds that patent law protects a specific form of “invention”, namely, a discrete unit of commodifiable knowledge with certain characteristics that developed in reciprocity with the development of capitalist markets for intellectual things. The corollary is that those more ensconced in capitalist markets will more likely share patent law’s epistemology. Taking this insight, the work develops a theoretical framework to explain patent grip. At this framework’s core is the thinking of Soviet legal scholar, Evgeny Pashukanis, that law is contingent in the sense that it expresses underlying social relations. The development of a market for a given intellectual thing is connected with the development of a commodifying attitude to that thing in which people more readily perceive it, or additions and modifications to it, as a propertisable “invention” rather than some other form of knowledge. Thus, it is hypothesised that more commodity-oriented people are more likely to use and obey patent law, i.e., to have higher patent grip. This work tests this hypothesis using a case study of the extent to which, in southwestern China’s Guizhou province, TK-knowers, namely, traditional medical knowledge (TMK) practitioners, use and obey patent laws in respect of TMK. The case study involves a social survey of 53 mostly ethnic minority TMK practitioners, capturing, inter alia, measures of individual commodity-orientation (also called marketisation) and patent grip. Case study analysis finds: (i) statistically significant correlations between a TMK practitioner’s commodity-orientation and their patent grip; and (ii) a TMK practitioner’s commodity-orientation affects their treatment of knowledge, such that the more commodity-oriented are more likely to view TMK as a patentable “invention”. The work concludes that patent law is a historically specific phenomenon. It thereby counters the idea, pervasive in the patent literature, that individuals will respond homogenously to patent laws. Rather, this work demonstrates that, whether or not the introduction of patent laws will lead to patenting in respect of intellectual things, depends on the extent to which people are patent-receptive, i.e., the extent to which they have become patent law’s subjects. This work also undoes the idea that patent laws determine the operation of markets. Rather, it demonstrates that markets have a hitherto under-recognised role in determining the operation of patent laws.
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ItemReforms of the International Tax System in Kuwait to Deliver a More Sustainable Revenue Base( 2023-08)Blessed with vast oil reserves, Kuwait has historically relied on oil production as its primary source of government revenue. However, the inevitable fluctuation of oil prices and eventual depletion of resources necessitates the exploration of alternative revenue sources. Amidst a dearth of other major industries that could match oil’s economic output, taxation emerges as the most reliable income source capable of meeting escalating government expenditure demands. This thesis critically investigates Kuwait’s current income tax system, particularly considering global shifts in taxation policies. As a rentier economy heavily reliant on oil exports, Kuwait does not impose personal tax or VAT. Instead, it primarily relies on corporate tax—an income tax levied on net profits, notably from foreign companies operating within the country. However, this system is marked by ad hoc arrangements, inconsistencies, and meagre tax rates. Legislative loopholes further complicate the landscape, creating uncertainty, inviting tax disputes, and providing opportunities for multinational companies to exploit intricate schemes to evade taxes. Given the country’s economic and political circumstances, the likelihood of significant alterations for these features is slim. Therefore, this thesis advocates addressing legislative deficiencies to bolster tax revenue and prevent exploitation. The thesis explores two primary challenges in determining tax liability and ensuring that multinational corporations pay an appropriate amount of income tax in Kuwait. The first challenge pertains to the tax nexus for foreign entities operating within Kuwait, where current regulations may inadequately capture the full range of business activities, leading to potential revenue leakage. The second challenge concerns the application of transfer pricing rules—a complex area of taxation prone to manipulation, resulting in reduced taxable profit and subsequent lower tax revenue. While Kuwait’s current tax system has historically served it to some extent, it cannot continue to do so amidst evolving economic changes. The thesis underlines the urgent need for fundamental tax reforms, emphasising the importance of a consistent, transparent, and equitable taxation system for the nation’s long-term economic stability and growth. The study proposes several measures to improve Kuwait’s tax system’s efficacy and efficiency, including policy reforms to combat tax base erosion caused by multinational entities’ avoidance schemes. As there is limited literature on implementing a new income tax nexus and transfer pricing system in Kuwait, this thesis analyses the potential of these proposed reforms to address the country’s dwindling revenue issue. The suggestions presented in the thesis intend to address the identified challenges and ensure a more equitable and robust taxation framework capable of facilitating sustainable revenue collection in Kuwait. By doing so, the thesis substantially contributes to the broader discourse on tax reform in oil-exporting countries, providing critical insights to inform policy decisions.
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ItemLimitation periods in child sexual assault litigation in Victoria(University of Melbourne, 2005)
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ItemJurisdiction in the international sale of goods : a comparative between Europe, the USA and England(University of Melbourne, 2008)
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Item[Law minor thesis](University of Melbourne, 2009)
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ItemThe search for jurisdictional salvation : assessing the Australian Law of Jurisdiction(University of Melbourne, 2008)
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ItemThe concept of joint employment in Australia and the need for statutory reform(University of Melbourne, 2008)