Coordinate Citation Between Australian State Supreme Courts Over the Twentieth Century

This paper examines the evolution of coordinate citations between the Australian state supreme courts using data on decisions reported in the official state reports at decade intervals from 1905 to 2005. We find that coordinate citations as a proportion of total citations have increased in importance over time. We also find that the exchange of coordinate citations is asymmetric; specifically, some states are large 'suppliers' of coordinate citations, while other states are large 'consumers' of coordinate citations. The strength of citation flows and the influence of specific courts also vary between different pairs of courts. We explain these findings in terms of differences between the states along several dimensions. These dimensions relate to geographical proximity, socio-economic complexity and cultural linkages between states and the stock of precedent and reputation of each of the state supreme courts.