Political Rights Review and Political Party Cohesion

Australia is often said tobe the onlydemocratic nation without a national Bill of Rights, Human Rights Act or other general human rights law. This presents a certain set of challenges. The Australian response has been to adopt a model of political rights review—relying on the effective scrutiny of parliament to uphold human rights norms. As other countries, including the UK, consider alternate mechanisms for human rights enforcement, it is appropriate to reflect upon the Australian experience. Political rights review is affected by the broader political architecture—in Australia strong party discipline and the Federal structure both have the potential to impact on the effective operation of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth)