It remains, in some form, on the statute books in 42 Commonwealth, or former Commonwealth, countries, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
That could have caused major problems for the commonwealth, but it didn't do that," she said.
"The court held that, in their operation with respect to the challenged funding agreement and the challenged payments made under that agreement, none of the challenged provisions is a valid law of the commonwealth," the high court said in a judgment summary.
But after discovering a number of commonwealth laws may have been breached, the investigation has been handed over to the Australian federal police.
It could only be used in dealing with commonwealth terrorism offences with a maximum penalty of at least seven years in jail.
We believe it is illegal for the commonwealth to wash its hands of its responsibilities".
This week, a spokesman for Shenhua said the company expected the water trigger to be applied as part of the commonwealth assessment and "we have prepared accordingly".
Its roots are far deeper than 20th-century ideologies, drawing upon Aristotle and Catholic social thought every bit as much as the English commonwealth tradition of federal democracy.
"This incident constitutes a potential breach of operational security and potentially the commission of a criminal offence under the commonwealth Crimes Act," an officer from the defence security authority wrote.
On Thursday the high court unanimously decided legislation passed by the federal parliament in 2012 – intended to provide the commonwealth with the authority to make funding agreements and payments after a previous successful legal challenge – was "invalid in its operation with respect to a funding agreement between the commonwealth and Scripture Union Queensland".
Gallagher told Guardian Australia in August the commonwealth had a clear responsibility.
