The Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) regulates the structure of the Australian judicial system and invests federal Australian courts with jurisdiction. Its passage, on 25 August 1903, established the High Court of Australia. It is one of the oldest pieces of Australian legislation and has been amended over 70 times.
The Act provides for the right of barristers and solicitors to practice in Federal courts, it provides for suits by and against the Commonwealth and the States, as well as for procedure in the High Court of Australia.
The Act also establishes in law the position of the Australian Government Solicitor.
Famous quotes containing the words judiciary and/or act:
“The judiciary has fallen to a very low state in this country. I think your part of the country has suffered especially. The federal judges of the South are a disgrace to any country, and I’ll be damned if I put any man on the bench of whose character and ability there is the least doubt.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“No legislation can suppress nature; all life rushes to reproduction; our procreative faculties are matured early, while passion is strong, and judgment and self-restraint weak. We cannot alter this, but we can alter what is conventional. We can refuse to brand an act of nature as a crime, and to impute to vice what is due to ignorance.”
—Tennessee Claflin (1846–1923)