Judiciary and Court System Notes

Reminder of useful information in the course syllabus.
Addressing questions about "double chance."
Double chance: The final overall grade is the best of the following two options:
- Best grade of all four assignments (Test 1, quizzes, essay, and final test).
- Best overall mark of three assignments (quiz, essay, and final test).
Implication: If the final test grade is better than the Test 1 grade, the final test grade becomes 70% of the overall grade.
Information on due dates and word limits in the syllabus.
Final test format: Open book hard copy materials test.
- Test will be done on a laptop in person.
- Physical materials (notes, lecture slides, textbook) are allowed.
- No access to digital resources on the laptop during the test.
- Focus on essential materials due to time constraints.

Understanding the hierarchy of the court system.
Analyzing the pros and cons of a hierarchical system versus a flat system.
Introduction to the functions of the courts, with a focus on how courts and judges make law incidentally through decisions.

The court system operates within a hierarchy.
- Vast majority of courts are lower courts.
- An appeals process exists for incorrect decisions.
- Appeals are heard by more senior, experienced courts.

Tribunals and Authorities: The first stage for many disputes (e.g., Tenancy Tribunal, Employment Relations Authority).
District Court: Hears primarily criminal and civil disputes.
- Includes specialized courts like the Youth Court and Family Court.
- Jurisdiction limited to certain types of law (e.g., family issues, youth offenses).
Specialized Courts: Operate alongside the District Court.
- Examples: Maori Land Court, Environment Court, Coroner's Court, Employment Court.
- Jurisdiction: Maori land management, resource management, coroner's investigations, employment arrangements.
High Court: Appeals from the District Court and some tribunals.
- Appeals based on errors of legal application or fact-finding.
Court of Appeal: Focuses on misapplications of law.
- Cases must meet a high threshold to be heard (manifest issues with the decision or legally novel issues).
Supreme Court: The highest ranking court in the jurisdiction.
- Cases rarely approved for appeal.
- Requires manifest incorrect legal decision or a significant question involving the development of the law.

Decisions at each level create a precedent.
- Court of Appeal: Authoritative precedent for every court underneath it.
- Supreme Court: The most authoritative precedent.
- Lower courts rely on decisions from higher courts to guide their decision-making.

Error Correction: Allows for errors in legal decisions to be corrected through appeals to higher courts.
Legal Development: Offers an avenue for legal development, particularly in common law.
- Higher courts can focus on complicated legal development.
Consistency: Leading decisions create consistency amongst lawyers and legal arguments.
- Lawyers can rely on the same authority to make arguments in similar cases.
Inconsistency Resolution: Provides a mechanism to resolve inconsistencies in legal development.
- The Supreme Court can address disagreements among lower courts.
Certainty: Provides certainty within the law through authoritative precedent from senior courts.

Cost: The appeal system can be expensive and time-consuming.
Inefficiency: Claimants may spend significant time and money without a resolution.
Complexity: The hierarchy can be complicated and difficult for individuals to understand.
Distancing: Increased formality at each level can create a distancing between the claimant and the court.
Concentration of Power: The Supreme Court holds significant authority, concentrating power in a small group of individuals.

Hearing legal issues and determining the correct result.
Categories of parties:
- Citizens themselves (civil actions).
- A citizen or a company against the state (criminal cases, judicial review proceedings).

Determining what happened in a case.
The judgment will start off with a little essay about what occurred in the case in front of them.

Enforce procedures on the lawyers and the jury.
Assist the jury in understanding how to interpret information and legal standards.

The court's main constitutional role is to interpret and apply the law that Parliament makes.
Courts have to interpret specifically when the facts are before them what those words mean and do they apply to the case in front of us. Is this law relevant?

In the Common Law: Judges involve themselves in determining whether on the facts in front of them this Common Law Rule applies.
Courts needs to develop laws to adapt to new scenarios.
This development and change is called Developing Through Precedent.

Parliament drafts legislation with undefined terms.
Courts must interpret the meaning of those terms.
- Example: The Lands case from 1987 and the State Owned Enterprises Act.
  - The Act stated nothing should permit the Crown to act in a manner inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
  - The court had to determine what the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi were and what they meant, because nowhere in statute were they defined.