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17 Melb. U. L. Rev. 533 (1989-1990)
Comparative Constitutional Law

handle is hein.journals/mulr17 and id is 551 raw text is: BOOK REVIEWS Mahendra P. Singh, Comparative Constitutional Law, Eastern Book Co. 1989, xv + 526. Comparative Constitutional Law is a volume of essays designed as a Festschrift in honour of Professor P. K. Tripathi on his retirement in 1989. During his distinguished career Professor Tipathi twice visited the University of Melbourne Law School, once in 1971 as the Lever Hume Fellow and again in 1979 as Distinguished Visiting Professor. The library holdings on the Indian Constitution and the lingering tradition of interest in Indian constitutional law in the Faculty owe much to these visits. For these reasons it is particularly appropriate that the Melbourne University Law Review carry a review of his Festschrift volume, which also serves as a timely reminder of more recent constitutional developments in India with which we may have been losing touch. Two contributions in the book survey the life and work of Professor Tripathi himself. Apart from his period of service on the Law Commission of India from 1971-77, Professor Tripathi's significant influence on the constitutional development of India has been through his activities as a legal academic, primarily at the Universities of Delhi and Allahabad. His academic career began shortly after the independence of India and the establishment of the Constitution. In the introduction to this volume, his biographer characterizes his role ever since as that of observer, analyst and critic of interpretation of the Constitution by the Supreme Court of India, with a view to ensuring that the evolution of the Constitution through judicial review was appropriate, consistent and conducive to its 'dignity and sanctity'. The principal themes of his work are examined more closely in an epilogue by the editor on Professor Tipathi's contribution to constitutional law. They include the role of the courts vis-d-vis the other organs of government in constitutional development; fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution including the rights to equality, personal liberty and freedom of religion, speech and property; the balance between fundamental rights and the 'directive principles' of the Constitution; centre-state relations; freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse; and constitutional amendment. The organization of the 29 essays in this volume reflect these themes to a degree. The six substantive parts of the book broadly cover theories of constitutionalism and judicial review, issues arising from constitutional transition or turmoil, constitutional guarantees of civil, political, econom- ic and social rights, and the structure and control of the administration. The contributors are drawn primarily from North America, Europe and India, with important contributions also from Sweden and Japan. In general the essays are of high quality, suffering a little in some cases where English is not the author's first language. This is not intended as a criticism: the subject matter of some of these essays might not otherwise be available in English at all, to our loss. The book is a valuable resource for the growing number of people who believe that future constitutional development in Australia should take place in the light of knowledge and understanding of approaches to comparable constitutional questions in other countries. It is impossible in a review of this length to deal comprehensively with such a diverse range of contributions. Four essays or themes therefore have been selected for specific comment, primarily because of their interest to this reviewer. Readers with different priorities may find other contribu- tions equally rewarding. Two which are likely to be of general interest are Christian Starck's piece on 'Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom' which has some bearing on the looming Australian debate on the proposed academic charter of rights and freedoms and Jill Cottrell's clear and informative description of the background to the Hong Kong Basic Law in 'One Country, Two Systems'. The first essay for particular mention is 'The Politics of the Constitution' by Yash Ghai, one of the leading scholars of constitutional systems in third world countries. Professor Ghai uses the Ningkan litigation in Malaysia to convey two basic messages. The litigation was merely part of a complex

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