📚 AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM – BIG STUDY NOTES

🇦🇺 Australia’s Government System

Australia has three levels of government:

Federal Government

• Makes laws for the whole of Australia.

• Responsible for things such as:

  • Defence

  • Immigration

  • Foreign affairs

  • Trade

  • Medicare

  • Centrelink

  • National roads and infrastructure

State Government

• Makes laws for each state or territory.

• Responsible for:

  • Schools

  • Hospitals

  • Police

  • Roads and traffic

  • Public transport

  • Courts and justice

Local Government

• Looks after the local community.

• Responsible for:

  • Libraries

  • Parks and playgrounds

  • Local roads

  • Rubbish collection

  • Community facilities

  • Some emergency/local services

🏛 Parliament

Parliament exists so that Australia can have an organised system for making laws and representing the people.

The main purposes of Parliament are to:

• Represent the people.

• Make and change laws.

• Debate important issues.

• Form government.

• Check the work of the government.

Australia has a bicameral parliament, meaning it has two houses:

• House of Representatives

• Senate

Advantages of having two houses

• Provides checks and balances.

• One house can review decisions made by the other.

• Makes the government more accountable.

• Laws are considered more carefully.

• Helps prevent too much power being held by one group.

• Gives smaller states representation.

Disadvantages

• Decisions can take longer.

• Running two houses costs more money.

• The two houses can disagree, which may delay laws.

⚖ Separation of Powers

The separation of powers divides government power into three branches so that one group does not become too powerful.

Legislative

• Parliament.

• Makes and changes laws.

Executive

• Government and ministers.

• Carries out and administers the laws.

Judiciary

• Courts and judges.

• Interprets and applies the law.

This system provides checks and balances.

⚖ Australia’s Court System

Courts resolve disputes and apply the law fairly.

There are different levels of courts because some cases are more serious or complicated than others.

Court hierarchy in Western Australia

From highest to lowest:

High Court of Australia
⬇
Court of Appeal
⬇
Supreme Court
⬇
District Court
⬇
Magistrates Court / Family Court

High Court of Australia

The highest court in Australia.

It:

• Interprets and applies Australian law.

• Decides important constitutional cases.

• Hears appeals from federal, state and territory courts.

• Makes decisions that lower courts must follow.

Supreme Court of Western Australia

The highest state court in WA.

It deals with:

• Very serious criminal cases.

• Serious civil cases.

• Major disputes.

• Some appeals from lower courts.

Examples may include:

• Murder

• Serious drug offences

District Court

An intermediate-level court.

It deals with:

• Serious criminal matters.

• Serious civil matters.

• Cases more serious than those heard in the Magistrates Court but generally less serious than Supreme Court matters.

Magistrates Court

The busiest and lowest-level court.

It deals with:

• Less serious criminal offences.

• Smaller civil disputes.

• Many everyday legal matters.

👩‍⚖ Key Participants in the Legal System

Important participants include:

1. Judges

2. Juries

3. Witnesses

4. Legal practitioners

👩‍⚖ Judges

Judges are extremely important participants in the legal system.

They must:

• Follow the law.

• Act fairly.

• Avoid discrimination or favouritism.

• Remain independent and impartial.

A judge may:

• Make sure correct court procedures are followed.

• Decide whether a person is guilty in cases without a jury.

• Decide questions of law.

• Give an appropriate sentence when someone is found guilty.

• Help ensure that a trial is fair.

Easy way to remember:

Judge = controls the court and applies the law.

👥 Juries

A jury is a group of ordinary citizens selected to hear a case.

A criminal jury in Australia commonly has 12 people.

Jurors:

• Listen to evidence.

• Listen to witnesses.

• Consider information presented in court.

• Follow directions given by the judge.

• Decide whether the accused is guilty or not guilty.

Jurors must make their decision based only on the evidence presented during the trial.

Jury duty

People can be randomly selected from the electoral roll to perform jury duty.

Jury service gives ordinary Australians an opportunity to participate in the legal system.

Easy way to remember:

Jury = decides the facts and the verdict.

🗣 Witnesses

A witness is someone who provides evidence to a court.

A witness might:

• Have seen an event.

• Have heard something relevant.

• Know important information about the case.

Their evidence can help a judge or jury decide what happened.

A witness is generally expected to tell the truth in court.

Expert witnesses

An expert witness has specialised knowledge or expertise.

Examples include:

• Doctors

• Scientists

• Psychologists

• Forensic specialists

They may give an expert opinion to help the court understand complicated information.

Easy way to remember:

Witness = gives evidence.

👨‍💼 Legal Practitioners

People have the right to legal representation in court.

A legal practitioner:

• Has specialised knowledge of the law.

• Gives legal advice.

• Represents people in legal matters.

• Helps make the trial process fair.

There are two main types:

Solicitors

Solicitors usually:

• Communicate with clients.

• Give legal advice.

• Prepare legal documents.

• Negotiate settlements.

• Prepare cases.

They may appear in court for less serious matters.

Barristers

Barristers specialise in:

• Courtroom trials.

• Hearings.

• Presenting legal arguments.

• Applying specialist knowledge of particular areas of law.

Barristers often work with solicitors on more complicated cases.

Highly experienced barristers may become Senior Counsel.

Easy way to remember:

Solicitor = prepares and advises.
Barrister = argues the case in court.

⭐ Quick Revision Summary

🧠 Super-short things to memorise

3 levels of government:
Federal – State – Local

3 branches of power:
Legislative – Executive – Judiciary

What they do:
Make laws – Carry out laws – Interpret laws

Main court participants:
Judge – Jury – Witness – Legal practitioner

Court order:
High Court → Court of Appeal → Supreme Court → District Court → Magistrates Court

This should cover almost everything shown across those pages without having to study the same information twice.