Essay On Australian Court Hierarchy

The Australian Court Hierarchy is structured through five different types of courts that suit different needs. The Hierarchy categorises the importance of cases by the level of offence or reason. This is then forwarded into the court it categorises under. The employees of the Australian judicial position have roles that vary to the courts they serve in.

The court with the most authority is the High Court of Australia that deals with the most serious and important cases. The supreme court then trials more serious indictable offences more than seven hundred and fifty-thousand dollars. The District court hears the most criminal trials for less serious indictable offences above one hundred and fifty-thousand dollars as well as appeals from the

The Doctrine of Precedent means that the judgments of higher courts must be binded to the lower court. This doctrine highlights the importance and superiority of the higher courts. There are, however, many disadvantages to the Doctrine of Precedent. There has been criticism that the Doctrine of Precent constrains the law and causes it to be too slow to develop. This is a major problem as society is constantly changing and the rigid preconditions for appeals and new cases could possibly make a segment of society feel as though they are being denied important rights. It also makes judicial decisions more complex as it can be difficult to find relevant prior trials or

This results in quicker, more cost effective trials and hearings as there is not as much of a need for research and consideration. Hierarchies also support diversification and creation of specialist courts for dealing with children, aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders, family law, and drug offences. Many specialised services, due to the resources they require, may only reach a limited segment of the population, leaving victims in regional and remote towns without an improvement. Another Concern is that most specialist courts in Australia do not require judicial officers to receive any training as a prerequisite for appointment. Some specialist courts e.g. the Family Violence devision, have cases that can be extremely traumatising for jurists and can damage their ability to work unless they are given proper support and