Hi, I'm Nick Hodgkinson, co-founder of and producer at The Australian Law Student.
We're really excited to this year bring you a new short-form podcast called The Law in Four.
The Law in Four is targeted at aspiring or first-year law students who are taking introductory
or foundational courses, or for penultimate or final year law students who want to brush up on
those first-year topics. The episodes are designed to be bite-sized and in plain English so that you
can listen conveniently. We are going to, as with most introductory or foundational courses,
start with intentional torts and move to statutory interpretation and tips for good legal writing.
Later in the series, we'll cover contract and criminal law fundamentals. As always,
if you have any suggestions, please email us at team at theauslawstudent.com or leave a comment
in your review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Thank you very much for that introduction,
Nick. And in today's episode of The Law in Four,
we will be discussing the Australian court hierarchy, which is fundamental knowledge
that all law students must understand and understand well. I'm your host, Oliver Hammond,
and just before we get stuck into it, a short disclaimer. We are law students and the podcast
you're about to hear does not constitute nor is it a substitute for legal advice. If you require
legal assistance, contact your state law society who can direct you. In all Australian states,
the hierarchy is very similar. However, there are key differences from state to state.
In this episode, the state of New South Wales,
we'll be primarily discussed. The hierarchy relies on a court's jurisdiction,
juris meaning law, and diction deriving from the Latin dictio, meaning to say or declare.
A court's jurisdiction or scope of a court's authority is usually dependent on the amount
of money involved in a case or the severity of the maximum penalty for an offence. In New South
Wales, the local court, also known as the magistrate's court in other states, deals with
most criminal and civil matters. The person who presides over this court is called a magistrate.
With civil matters, i.e. magistrates,
generally revolved around monetary disputes and where no criminal
penalties are applicable, the local court has the jurisdictionto hear matters with a monetary
value of up to $100,000. In criminal matters, local courts can hear less serious offences known
as summary offences. These include traffic matters, minor stealing, and some types of assault.
In more serious offences, known as indictable offences, these can include but again not
limited to armed robbery or attempted murder. The local court conducts commital proceedings to decide if there is enough
enough evidence to go before a higher court in these instances.
The district court, or county court as it is known in some other states, is the intermediate
court in NSW. It has a civil jurisdiction that can deal with motor accident claims regardless
of the amount and can hear other claims of up to $750,000. The court can also hear serious
indictable offences normally heard by a judge and jury. However, for the most serious offences
such as murder or treason, it does not hear these matters.
Unlike the local court, the district court has an appellate jurisdiction, i.e. the jurisdiction
to hear appeals from the local court, children's court and a range of other administrative
and disciplinary tribunals. Specialised courts like the children's and coroner's court will
be discussed in another episode of The Law in 4.
Next, the Supreme Court of NSW. This court has unlimited civil jurisdiction and handles
the most serious criminal matters.
It also has the ability to hear appeals from the local court, children's court and other
administrative tribunals. This court has the ability to deal with matters that are
not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts, i.e. can only be exclusively
heard by the federal courts.
But still technically a part of the Supreme Court is the Court of Appeal and the Court
of Criminal Appeal. Neither has an original jurisdiction, i.e. they can only hear cases
if they are appealed to from another court. This sole appellate jurisdiction means the
Court of Appeal can hear appeals from civil matters from the Supreme and District Court
along with the Land and Environment Court.
The Court of Criminal Appeal is the only court within the Supreme Court that can hear appeals
criminal appeal is the state's highest court of criminal appeal and it deals exclusively with
appeals arising in criminal matters it is normally headed by a bench of three judges
however in some very important cases a bench of five judges will sit the court of appeal and the
court of criminal appeal can review questions of law and may overturn findings of fact they can
also reduce or increase penalties or awards of damages or jail sentences the only avenue of
appeal after this is to the high court of australia for which special permission must be
granted and on that note this wraps up the australian court hierarchy if you would like
further aid in relation to the court hierarchy or anything law related please check out our website
and our podcast for further episodes thank you very much