Supplementary Datasets for the High Court Database
This part of the HCDB website includes additional, complementary datasets and measures that can be used to analyse various aspects of the High Court decision-making process. Please contact us with any questions or comments about the supplementary datasets and measures, or if you have code or data you would like to contribute for public use.
High Court Justice Biographical Database
The High Court Justice Biographical Database contains biographical data for justices serving on the High Court of Australia from the start of the Brennan Court in 1997 to December 31, 2021. The dataset contains up to 148 variables for each justice, including information relating to the justice’s appointment to the High Court, personal background information, family information, educational information, and pre-High Court appointment employment background information. The database was specifically and deliberatively modelled on the U.S. Supreme Court Justices Database in order to facilitate comparative judicial politics research, as well as provide a robust dataset for Australian researchers interested in engaging with the empirical study of judicial politics.
Downloads:
High Court Attorney Dataset
The High Court Attorney Dataset contains data on every attorney who has appeared at oral argument at the High Court. The dataset is designed to link to the HCDB, with every case in the HCDB being represented in the Attorney Dataset. The data include information such as attorney names, gender, seniority, and party represented. Please consult the documentation for further information.
Downloads:
High Court Oral Argument Database
The High Court Oral Argument Database comprises all oral arguments in the High Court from 1995-2020 in a downloadable format ready for text analysis. Due to size, the data are not available online however can be shared on request. Please email Patrick Leslie to request the dataset.