The subject of this thesis is the justification of sovereignty, legal order and the rule of law. That justification, I argue, is best articulated within a vision of the state as an entrusted and authorised fiduciary of each person subject to its powers. As fiduciary, the state is authorised to exercise public powers for the purpose of securing and administering legal order. But because this authorisation---the state's legal authority---flows from a fiduciary relationship with those subject to it, state authority is encumbered with an overarching obligation to use public powers exclusively for the public good. Seeing the state as fiduciary explains its authority to legislate, conduct administration, adjudicate and otherwise guarantee legal order. The fiduciary relationship also explains the default limits of that authority, limits which constitute the rule of law and manifest themselves as free-standing public duties such as fairness and reasonableness. Those common law duties guarantee that exercises of public power necessarily take place within an institutional legal framework that locates its legitimacy in the fiduciary principle's authorisation of it. When exercises of public power conform to the demands of this authorisation---the demands of the rule of law, of fairness and reasonableness---they respect the autonomy and dignity of the persons in whom the fiduciary justification of public authority ultimately lies.

With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013.

Arguing that the state and its people stand in a fiduciary relationship, Sovereignty's Promise puts forward a bold new account of political authority and its legal limits. In doing so it presents a fresh argument for common law constitutionalism and a novel theoretical framework for understanding the requirements of the rule of law.