Scott Stephenson

Scott Stephenson is an Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. He received his BA and LLB (Hons) with the University Medal in Law from the Australian National University. After graduation, he worked at the High Court of Australia for two years, first as the Court’s Legal Research Officer and then as Associate to Justice Virginia Bell AC. He subsequently obtained his LLM and JSD from Yale University. Stephenson has held visiting positions at the University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen, King’s College London, and University of Oxford. He serves as Treasurer and a Council Member of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law. At Melbourne Law School, he teaches Advanced Constitutional Law.

Stephenson's research focuses on Australian and comparative constitutional law and theory, including federalism, models of rights protection, the separation of powers, and the use of comparative materials. His book, From Dialogue to Disagreement in Comparative Rights Constitutionalism (Federation Press, 2016), analyzing bills of rights in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, was awarded the Holt Prize in 2015. He has published in leading journals, including recent works such as ‘Constitutional Shoehorning’ (2024) 46 Sydney Law Review 395; ‘The Constitutional Lessons from Australia’s COVID-19 International Border Closure’ (2023) 49 Monash University Law Review 103; ‘Are Political “Attacks” on the Judiciary Ever Justifiable? The Relationship between Unfair Criticism and Public Accountability’ (2023) 71 American Journal of Comparative Law 748; ‘Constitutional Conventions and the Judiciary’ (2021) 41 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 750; ‘The Challenge for Courts in a Moderately Rigid Constitution’ (2021) 44 Melbourne University Law Review 1042; and ‘Dignity and the Australian Constitution’ (2020) 42 Sydney Law Review 369. Forthcoming publications include ‘The Place of Federalism in Deliberative Rights Theory’ (2025) Federal Law Review and ‘Uncertainty and Risk as an Argument against Constitutional Amendment’ (2026) Federal Law Review. His scholarship appears in journals such as the American Journal of Comparative Law, Federal Law Review, International Journal of Constitutional Law, Melbourne University Law Review, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, and Sydney Law Review.

Professional Email: scott.stephenson@unimelb.edu.au