The 5th edition of Cowen and Zines’s Federal Jurisdiction in Australia incorporates a spate of important developments of the last nine years over most areas of federal jurisdiction. These include decisions in all Australian States concerning the determination of federal matters in State tribunals following Burns v Corbett, the bona fide invocation of jurisdiction in Citta Hobart Pty Ltd v Cawthorn, the requirement of a matter in an appeal in AZC20 v Minister and the nature of federal jurisdiction in the self-governing Territories in Vunilagi v The Queen.
Each of those decisions (and many others) have cited earlier editions of this work, which is widely regarded as authoritative in an area essential to practice as well as to the understanding of the Australian legal system. The current edition continues the approach of examining these developments closely and critically. It also maintains links with United States judgments and literature, including cross-references to the monumental (1820 page) 8th edition of Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System published in January 2025.
