Renato Costa

Dr Renato Costa is a Lecturer in Law at The University of Queensland, Director (Comparative Law) of the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law and a former editor of the University of Queensland Law Journal (UQLJ). Dr Costa joined the T. C. Beirne School of Law as an LLM student in 2018, under an Australian Government-funded scholarship. Before undertaking his studies at the University of Queensland, he practised law at one of Brazil's most prominent law firms. Dr Costa graduated with an LLB from the Faculty of Law at the Catholic University of Pernambuco, in Brazil. He holds a PhD and an LLM from T.C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland. Dr Costa specialises in constitutional and comparative law. His research focus is constitutional theory and specific aspects of the Australian constitutional system, including the rule of law, federalism, constitutional history, religious freedom and human rights, political theology, and jurisprudence. He has published a growing body of journal articles, book chapters, and edited books in the fields of constitutional theory, comparative constitutional law, federalism, and jurisprudence. His research focuses on constitutions as systems of legal and social ordering, with particular attention to federalism, constitutional structure, and the relationship between law and religion. His most notable publications in these fields include: Federalism in a Turbulent Era (Edward Elgar, 2026) (edited with Nicholas Aroney); Raízes do Federalismo Australiano: Discursos Selecionados de Sir Henry Parkes (Editora Contracorrente, 2024) (with Bruno Santos Cunha); and a range of peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including Law and Philosophy, The Journal of Legal Philosophy, and Revus: Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law. He has also contributed chapters to international edited collections, including the Global Review of Constitutional Law. Constitutional Law and Theory: Principles of constitutional law; History of constitutions; Comparative constitutional law; Federalism; Theoretical perspectives on constitutional change. Australian Public Law: Australian Constitution; Australian federalism; Australian perspective in comparative constitutional law. Political Theology: Relationship between Church and State; Theological origins of political and legal institutions; Reformed theology and law.

[2026] Brazilian federalism: populism, emergency powers, and political turmoil. Costa, Renato and Cunha, Bruno Santos (2026). Brazilian federalism: populism, emergency powers, and political turmoil. Federalism in a turbulent era. (pp. 67-92) edited by Nicholas Aroney and Renato Costa. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar. doi: 10.4337/9781035321582.fm4 [2026] Federalism in a Turbulent Era. Nicholas Aroney and Renato Costa eds. (2026). Federalism in a Turbulent Era. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar. doi: 10.4337/9781035321582 [2025] Raízes do Federalismo Australiano: discursos selecionados de Sir Henry Parkes. Costa, Renato and Cunha, Bruno Santos (2025). Raízes do Federalismo Australiano: discursos selecionados de Sir Henry Parkes. São Paulo, Brazil: Editora Contracorrente. [20