Australian Court Hierarchy Essay Research Paper The

Australian Court Hierarchy Essay, Research Paper

The term ?Court Hierarchy? is a very important word in the law world in modern society. It?s definition gives a very clear and concise meaning to the law industry. The phrase can be split into two words to be easily dealt and understood. The word ?court? is from a Greek derivative ?cohors? or ?cohort? meaning courtyard or retinue. It?s definition from the dictionary certainly portrays the law as a very important and distinguished practice. ?a. A person or body of persons whose task is to hear and submit a decision on cases at law.? ?b. The building, hall, or room in which such cases are heard and determined.? The word, ?hierarchy?, however, has a more powerful and specific relation to the law world. It is a Greek derived word and originally came from the word ?hierarkhia?, meaning the rule of a high priest. ?a. A body of clergy organized into successive ranks or grades with each level subordinate to the one above.? ?b. A series in which each element is graded or ranked.? By placing these two words together, it has a responsibility of giving the public a definition of one of the most important practices portrayed by the Court System of Australia. Court Hierarchy is the term given to the system in which the Courts of Australia are split into different levels to deal with different matters by different levels of severity.

The jurisdiction of courts? is very important due to the fact that different courts deal with special matters differently from another court. The term jurisdiction means ?a. The right and power to interpret and apply the law.? This means that the different courts of Australia deal with matters according to severity and relevance of that particular case to be heard in the highest possible court. This is the how the courts of Australia deal with which cases are heard in a specific court. No two courts have the same areas of jurisdiction even though it is a fact that the same case can be appealed and heard in a different court. The higher court which heard the appeal can over-rule the previous verdict. Jurisdiction brings efficiency to the court system allowing minor cases to be filtered through the court system and brought up and heard by the most appropriate court.

In the Court Hierarchy System, there are six courts all together. The names of each from the highest and most powerful court to the lowest, are:

The High Court Of Australia, State Supreme Court, County or District Courts, Magistrates? Court or Court Of Petty Sessions, Coroner?s Court and the Children?s Court. Each have their own ways of dealing with matters and each court handle different cases according to severity and the necessity of hearing the case from the highest possible court. A brief description upon the roles of each court are:

High Court Of AustraliaThe High Court Of Australia is exactly what its name states. It is the highest court in the country. It has seven judges who can either hear cases as individuals or as three, five and seven man panels. The reason for this necessary and very specific numbers is obvious. Having an odd number of judges to hear a case would never end up having both sides reaching a non ?fifty-fifty? verdict. There will always be more votes on a verdict than another. The type of cases heard in the High Court include situations such as interpreting the Constitution when there is a dispute between the States and the Federal Government, any dispute between the States, for example, over boundaries or appeals from the State Courts and the Federal Courts. A person who has been through all the appeal stages in the State Court hierarchy and wishes to appeal once man can go to the High Court. Its decision will be final.

State Supreme Court.The State Supreme Court tends to specialise in a very specific and particular area of the law at any given time. That is, cases such as criminal, civil or commercial cases will be heard by this court. The State Supreme Court, being the second highest court in the country, deal only with very severe cases such as murder, rape, man slaughter, treason, kidnapping and so on. The State Supreme Court?s jurisdiction also covers disputes where one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or more is claimed for personal damages. It also hears appeals from lower courts or Supreme Court cases where a single judge has made the decision. In the situation where an appeal is made against a single judge?s decision this is heard by the full bench of the Supreme Court. This usually means that three judges hear the appeal.

County or District Courts.Towards the mid section of the Australian Court Hierarchy System, lies the County of District Court. The cases that this court?s jurisdiction covers is very similar to those of the Supreme Court. This particular court hear appeals from the lower courts and a great majority of criminal hearings are heard in these courts. The judges appointed to hear the cases of this court are appointed by the State Parliament. The Country Court?s jurisdiction is empowered to hear civil disputes in which one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or less is claimed for personal damages.

Magistrates? Court or Courts of Petty Sessions.Another common name for the Magistrates? Court is ?the police court?. This name was given to this particular court due to the fact that a majority of cases brought before this court involve the police h