The Judiciary

Judiciary

interprets law and makes legally binding decisions about their meanings. courts enforce rights (justice) through judicial power and can create new laws, alter the meaning of existing laws and hold other branches accountable to the law. require judicial independence for liberal democracy and rule of law to perform roles without fear or favor.

Court hierarchies

geographical and legal jurisdictions to arrange courts in hierarchies to allocate case load and expertise. enables a division of work, legal specialization, appeals and doctrine of precedent.

Division of work

cases are distributed among different courts based on the type of law (constitutional, criminal, civil, administrative) and seriousness of the dispute (minor, serious, complexity)

Legal specialization

general jurisdiction- criminal and civil cases. special jurisdiction

Benefits of legal specialization

courts and judges develop high levels of expertise in narrow areas of complex law and thus make better decisions. reduces time needed to deal with case, helping achieve timely justice.

Appeals

courts with appellate jurisdiction (superior/intermediate courts) hear appeals to review arguments, law and evidence to hold lower courts accountable, improve justice by enabling parties to test case outcomes.

Adversarial trial

parties in court are adversarial- to win they must present their best evidence and arguments to drive cases. trials have strict rules to ensure fairness and judges are impartial so quality evidence, convincing argument and fair processes reveal truth.

doctrine of precedent

courts with appellate jurisdiction therefore apply the doctrine of precedent to make common law.

precedent

created when courts deal with novel cases where no existing laws and applies and is legally binding to same level and lower courts, persuasive for courts in other hierarchies.

common law system

legal system in Australia is inherited from UK. uses precedents to guide courts in new cases with similar facts- judges can follow or be persuaded, depending on the rank of the court, common law develops slowly and adapts to changing circumstances and is governed by the doctrine of precedent.