Background
The British government established the colony of New South Wales primarily as a penal colony, although it did encourage settlement. Its principal purpose was to house prisoners from Great Britain. Captain Arthur Phillip was appointed as the colony's first governor.
The British authorities foresaw the need for a judicial system to be established in the colony to deal with criminal matters. This was to be a two-tier system. The higher tier was to be the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, which was to deal with the major offences occurring in the colony. The lower tier was to be the existing English system of appointing justices of the peace to administer the lesser type of offences.
Read more about this topic: Court Of Criminal Jurisdiction
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“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
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