Unit 1: Criminal law, Outcome 3: Magistrates court research assignment
1. Define key legal terminology such as court hierarchy, jurisdiction & court personnel
Court hierarchy
A court hierarchy is a structure or or order of rank of courts within a state or country. The court hierarchy allows each court to deal with specific types of cases according to the seriousness of the crime and the courts jurisdiction. Hence, courts dealing with more serious offences would be higher in the court hierarchy than the courts dealing with less serious offences. In Victoria- the Supreme court is the is the apex of the state court system, with the County court and Magistrates court below.
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the authority vested in a court to hear criminal/civil matters. Jurisdiction can be limited/extended by certain factors including, but not limited to, the types of cases, geographical location and monetary limits.
Court Personnel
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2. Reasons for a court hierarchy?
There are several reasons why the existence of a Court hierarchy is beneficial towards Victorias Judicial system. These include:
Specialisation: Courts are ranked in order of importance according to the types of cases they are most likely to hear. Therefor, as the Supreme Court hears serious indictable offences involving, but not limited to murder and treason, it ranks above the County Court, which hears all indictable offences not related to murder. The Magistrates Court hears all summary offences, and holds committals for indictable offences . Theoretically, a theft charge could be heard in the Supreme Court, but would be...
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...d on bail, awaiting an Appeal date.
Criminal charge:
Theft and fraud; 140 charges (18 February 2014)
Criminal penalty:
Subject to appeal: 12 months custody, with 9 months suspended over 2 years (25 March 2014)
Criminal status:
Granted bail pending outcome of appeal against conviction and sentence (25 March 2014)
Conviction: Subject to appeal: Theft and fraud; 65 charges (25 March 2014)
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10. Bibliography
http://www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au
http://www.justice.vic.gov.au
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Justice_(Victoria)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magistrates'_Court_of_Victoria
http://svc114.wic016v.server-web.com
Key concepts in VCE Legal Studies Units 1+ 3
Sam Richards
Nowadays, the Australian legal system has three powers, which are legislative, executive and judicial. Legislative power is in charge of making the laws; subsequently those laws will be passed to the executive power to administer the laws it...
...are generally at a county level, which are decided by judges who base their decisions on information presented in court. At the state level, there are state appellate courts. This type of court takes place when a defendant loses a trial and questions concerning the law arise. A smell number of cases go to the appellate court. The federal court consists of the Supreme Court and District courts. Each District court is placed due to a specific geographical area. These courts rule on federal cases such as fraud or bank robberies. All federal cases are heard in front of a jury.
Although federal law is effective throughout the United States, different states have different state laws. In this essay, I will discuss the differences and similarities between the federal and California judicial system. Under the U.S. Constitution, there are three levels that provide court cases that can be heard in the federal and state governments. Whenever a law case is issued, Trial Courts are always the first court people would have to go through.
In this essay, I will be examining how the court system can fail to deliver justice for particular cases and people’s circumstances, as well as looking at alternatives to court, like circle sentencing, restorative sentencing and alternatives for children to the formal court system, as outlined in the Young Offenders Act 1997 (NSW). Crime is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law. On the other side of this is justice; the quality of being fair and reasonable.
Judiciary.gov.uk. 2014. Judges, Tribunals and Magistrates | Introduction to the justice system | Traditions of the courts. [online] Available at: http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/introduction-to-justice-system/court-traditions [Accessed: 2 Apr 2014].
First, according to justice.gov, “The federal court system has three main levels: district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court of the United States.” The courts all have a different role to play in the judicial system. Court systems exist to provide justice for all. Now, the district court system is the beginning of the judicial system. A good amount of the cases handled by the district court system are either criminal or civil trial cases.
The U.S. district courts are the case courts of the federal court system. “Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over all cases involving alleged violations of federal statutes.” A community can be branched into segments, and it can have many places where the court trials different cases. “U.S. district courts handle tens of thousands of cases per year (Schmalleger).”
The US court system consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The trial court is the first to hear the facts of a case and has original jurisdiction. The appellate court hears cases whose resolution is disputed by the losing party in the trial court. The supreme or high court hears cases whose outcome is disputed by the losing party in the appellate court. The supreme or high court chooses which cases warrant a hearing. The federal and the state court system have the same basic structure. Each consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The Federal Court of Appeals has thirteen (13) circuits which cover most states except the District of Columbia. The federal system also has specialty courts such as the Court of Federal Claims and the United States Tax Court.
The three courts are broken into: “(1) ordinary courts, which handle criminal and most civil cases; (2) specialized courts, which hear cases related to administrative issues; and (3) constitutional courts, which deal with judicial review and constitutional interpretation” (Dammer & Albanese, 2011, p. 157). All courts in Germany, besides the Federal Supreme Court of Justice, are state courts, meaning all judges operate under the state in which they reside, instead of the federal government (Krey, 1999). In the ordinary court system, the court is broken into four tiers, which consist of the Amtsgerichte, the Landgericht, the Oberlandesgerichte courts, and the Bundesgerichte. The Amtsgerichte deals with minor and local crimes and is often staffed by a single judge instead of a panel. The Landgericht are regional courts that try major criminal and civil cases. The Oberlandesgerichte courts deal with cases mostly relating to treason and “anti-constitutional” behavior. Germany’s specialized courts operate on the local, regional, and federal level and deal with “social security, labor, tax law, and administrative law, and patent law” (Dammer & Albanese, 2011, p.
The Texas Judiciary system is made up of several layers of courts and its structure is laid out in how it should be followed in the Texas Constitution. It is defined better in the Texas Government Code and the Texas Probate Code.
They are special judges who interpret laws according to the Constitution. These justices only hear cases that pertain to issues related to the Constitution. They are the highest court in our country.”
The Selection, Training and Role of Magistrates in the English Legal System Lay magistrates are unqualified, part-time and unpaid profesionals who are chosen to serve in the magistrates court, yet they deal with the vast majority of cases in the legal system. They do not hear cases on their own but sit as a bench or panel of two or three other magistrates. The use of such unqualified people to judge cases is open to criticism. Magistrates sit in a magistrates court, usually in a bench of three.
The courts have the function of giving the public a chance to present themselves whether to prosecute or defend themselves if any disputes against them rise. It is known to everyone that a court is a place where disputes can be settled while using the right and proper procedures. In the Criminal court is the luxury of going through a tedious process of breaking a law. Once you have been arrested and have to go to court because of the arrest, you now have a criminal case appointed against you. The court is also the place where a just, fair and unbiased trial can be heard so that it would not cause any disadvantage to either of the party involved in the dispute. The parties are given a chance to represent themselves or to choose to have a legal representative, which is mostly preferred by many.
... Supreme Court of Justice (formerly known as the House of Lords). Courts that are considered as higher courts in the hierarchy of courts would be the Court of Appeal and the High Court.
For my field experience, I chose to attend a court case. On October 14th, 2015 I went to the District of Columbia court and watched a sentencing. It was not at all what I initially expected although after sitting in class for several weeks I was not shocked by it. What surprised me most was the informal, personal nature that the whole process had. The experience was interesting and I feel that I learned a lot from it.