5. Court Structure & Hierarchy

Court Structure

• Our courts have a hierarchy federally as well as for each state• Different courts hear different issues and some issues can be

appealed and so move up through courts

• Courts often have two jurisdictions:• Original • Appellate

• Original is the jurisdiction an issue/case is heard the first time• If the outcome is not desirable, either party (prosecution or

defense) can appeal the decision (for a legal reason)• The issue then goes to the appellate jurisdiction• The appellate jurisdiction can be considered slightly higher

than the original jurisdiction of the same court• ie. The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Qld is

slightly higher than the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Australia

Federal Courts• The High Court of Australia has jurisdiction over:• Constitutional matters

• Interpretation of the Australian Constitution, for example, whether the Qld. Govt. can impose a new tax (original jurisdiction)

• Appeals from the State Courts of Appeal, Family Court of Australia and Federal Court of Australia on civil and criminal cases (appellate jurisdiction)

• The Family Court of Australia has jurisdiction (original and appellate) over:• Family law matters including divorce, maintenance, property

settlements, rights of children following divorce (but no jurisdiction over criminal cases)

• The Federal Court of Australia has jurisdiction (original and appellate) over:• Specific areas of law including competition laws, consumer laws,

bankruptcy, taxation law issues, immigration issues, a small number of criminal cases

State Courts• The Court of Appeal hears from:• Civil and criminal decisions of Supreme Court, and some

decisions of the District Court (no original jurisdiction)• Consists of 3 or 5 judges

• The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over:• Appeals from the District Court (appellate jurisdiction)• The most serious criminal offences that attract maximum prison

sentences of more than 14 years (eg. Murder, manslaughter) (original jurisdiction)

• Offences by children such as murder, attempted murder, treason and major drug offences

• Civil cases involving amounts more than $750,000 (no maximum $ limit)

• The District Court has jurisdiction over:• Appeals from the Magistrate Court (appellate jurisdiction)• Most criminal offences that attract a maximum prison sentence

of less than 14 years (eg. Stealing, dangerous driving, rape) (original jurisdiction)

• Civil cases involving amounts between $150,000 and $750,000 (original jurisdiction)

• The Magistrate Court has jurisdiction over:• Minor criminal offences that may or may not attract a prison

sentence (eg. Drink driving, smoking marijuana)• Civil cases involving amounts less than $50,000• Domestic violence matters• No appellate jurisdiction other than for tribunals• Appeals from various tribunals (eg. The Small Claims Tribunal)

• Note that the Govt. has set up tribunals to have jurisdiction over special types of cases

• There are also specialist courts at various levels, such as:• Children’s Court (part of the District Court)

• For charges against children under 17• Coroner’s Court (part of the Magistrates Court)

• To investigate the cause of death of people who die suddenly, suspiciously or without obvious reason

• Drug Court (part of the Magistrates Court)• To deal with sentencing people who have pleaded guilty to drug-

related offences

• The court hierarchy is important because:• It is useful to know in which court to bring a legal action• It is useful to know which court will hear an appeal from a

decision