Convergence and Divergence: The Influence of American Constitutionalism on Sir Owen Dixon

Abstract

Sir Owen Dixon’s increasing disillusionment with the state of the English judiciary during his tenure as Justice, and later Chief Justice, of the High Court of Australia is well known. What is less well known is his admiration for early American constitutional law scholarship. This article explores that theme with particular reference to Dixon’s friendship with Justice Felix Frankfurter of the US Supreme Court, both of whom had a similar judicial cast of mind and were fascinated by the unique analytical complexities posed by a federal system. It will be seen that Dixon’s treatment of three constitutional issues – the common law and the Constitution, intergovernmental immunities, and federal judicial power – bore all the hallmarks of American thought in these areas. But Dixon’s disillusionment with the composition of the US Supreme Court, and his aversion to the growing prominence of “Due Process”, tempered this enthusiasm with scepticism in his later years.