COURT HIERARCHY
All courts in each state of Australia are part of a court hierarchy and are graded in order from the most important being the High Court of Australia which will hear with the most extreme complex issues and the lowest Court being the Magistrates Court which will hear small cases
The Court Hierarchy in Victoria in the most simple will look like this.
The Court Hierarchy in Victoria in the most simple will look like this.
There are many reasons for having a court hierarchy in Australia. One reason is the Doctrine of precedent which means that all decisions that are made in a higher court become binding on all lower courts in the same hierarchy. This creates what is known as precedent which allows for consistency in all similar cases meaning that they are all treated in a similar matter. This also allows for predictability up to a certain degree, as Solicitors can inform their clients about what the law is and what decisions are likely to be made by the Judge.
The court hierarchy also allows for appeals to be made. An appeal is when somebody is dissatisfied by the decision made by the court and decide to appeal the cause which means that the case would be heard again at a higher courts. For example. appealing a decision made in the Magistrates courts would result the case being heard again in the County court. This provides fairness and will allow any mistakes made in the lower court to me fixed in the higher court. A system of appeals cannot operate without a court hierarchy as there would be nobody to appeal to which would create unfairness and unreliability within the court system.
Another benefit of having a court hierarchy is that each case can be assigned to a certain court based upon their seriousness. In general the most serious cases will take a longer time to resolve and will therefore be heard in a higher court such as the Supreme or High court were Judges who have a vast experience and knowledge of the law while less serious cases such as minor theft and speeding will be heard in the Magistrates or County court were they are resolved quickly. This reduces delays in less serious cases and allows the Supreme and High court to more easily manage the current cases on trial and reduces the amount of cases they need to hear which overall allows them to fully concentrate on the case at hand.
Finally, each court can specialize in it's own area of law and is familiar in that area of law which allows them do develop their own area of expertise. Judges in the Supreme and High court have experiences in much lager cases such as Murder or cases involving a large sum of money, but would not know about the area of law regarding small issues such as minor theft, while a Judge in the Magistrates court would have experience in smaller cases such as speeding, but would not have experience in a case involving Murder. This specialization also allows other courts such as Children's court to specialize in their own area of law. Again this allows for a greater deal of fairness in each case as they have been heard by a specialist in that area and are unlikely to make mistakes.
A table comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each can be found below.
The court hierarchy also allows for appeals to be made. An appeal is when somebody is dissatisfied by the decision made by the court and decide to appeal the cause which means that the case would be heard again at a higher courts. For example. appealing a decision made in the Magistrates courts would result the case being heard again in the County court. This provides fairness and will allow any mistakes made in the lower court to me fixed in the higher court. A system of appeals cannot operate without a court hierarchy as there would be nobody to appeal to which would create unfairness and unreliability within the court system.
Another benefit of having a court hierarchy is that each case can be assigned to a certain court based upon their seriousness. In general the most serious cases will take a longer time to resolve and will therefore be heard in a higher court such as the Supreme or High court were Judges who have a vast experience and knowledge of the law while less serious cases such as minor theft and speeding will be heard in the Magistrates or County court were they are resolved quickly. This reduces delays in less serious cases and allows the Supreme and High court to more easily manage the current cases on trial and reduces the amount of cases they need to hear which overall allows them to fully concentrate on the case at hand.
Finally, each court can specialize in it's own area of law and is familiar in that area of law which allows them do develop their own area of expertise. Judges in the Supreme and High court have experiences in much lager cases such as Murder or cases involving a large sum of money, but would not know about the area of law regarding small issues such as minor theft, while a Judge in the Magistrates court would have experience in smaller cases such as speeding, but would not have experience in a case involving Murder. This specialization also allows other courts such as Children's court to specialize in their own area of law. Again this allows for a greater deal of fairness in each case as they have been heard by a specialist in that area and are unlikely to make mistakes.
A table comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each can be found below.
The Magistrates court will hear all civil matters between the cost of $100000 and $10000, anything below $10000 will go to Arbitration. A unique feature of the Magistrates court is that in certain circumstances, both the parties do not need to be present at the same time. Both the County court and the Supreme court will hear anything above $100000 in all civil matters and both parties must be present for the hearing to be heard.