Law of Australia - Judicial System - State and Territory Courts

State and Territory Courts

All states and territories have a supreme court. Jurisdiction can be excluded by operation of a State statute." This has happened, for example, with environmental and planning matters, which are dealt with by the Land and Environment Court. These types of courts can remit cases to lower courts or remove cases initiated in lower courts. Supreme Courts are "superior courts", which means that their decisions are binding on lower courts (unless reversed on appeal).

By contrast, the decisions of inferior courts are subject not only to appeal in the normal manner but to review as to whether the matter was within the jurisdiction of that court. All jurisdictions, apart from Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, have an intermediate trial court - called a county court in Victoria and district court in the other States. Most jury trials take place in the intermediate trial courts.At the bottom of the court hierarchy are the courts of summary jurisdiction, called Magistrates' Courts or Local Courts (depending on the jurisdiction). In Western Australia and the Northern Territory, there are two types of court of summary jurisdiction, one exercising criminal jurisdiction and one exercising civil jurisdiction. In their civil jurisdiction, inferior courts operate within jurisdictional and monetary limits. The monetary limits of the inferior courts have increased substantially in recent years as a result of pressure of judicial work downwards to the courts lower in the hierarchy.

All Australian states have Criminal Injuries Compensation ''Schemes. New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia have created separate Victim Compensation Tribunals. In New South Wales the body is called the New South Wales Victim Compensation Tribunal in which applications can be made even where a person has not been charged with a criminal offence. In Victoria and Western Australia the body is called the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal. In the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, awards are made by the magistrate's court. In South Australia an award can be made by the district court. In Queensland an award can be made by the court that heard the criminal proceedings. In Tasmania an award can be made by the master, registrar or deputy registrar of the Tasmanian supreme court.