Supreme Court of New South Wales

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The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest court for the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. The Supreme Court is the highest New South Wales court in the Australian court hierarchy.

1 History
2 Structure and Jurisdiction
3 Chief Justices of New South Wales
4 References

[edit] History

Legislation to establish the court was prepared in London by James Stephen, counsel to the Colonial Office, and Francis Forbes, Chief Justice of Newfoundland and Chief Justice-designate of New South Wales. Consequently Letters Patent were sealed on 13 October 1823, and proclaimed in Sydney on 17 May 1824. They are known as the Third Charter of Justice.

In 1840, the Parliament of New South Wales established a separate equity division in the court. Limited jurisdiction in divorce cases was granted in 1873 and full Admiralty jurisdiction was added in 1911. The Supreme Court, in 1970, was one of the last Common Law jurisdictions in the world to fuse Equity and Common Law, although these continue as the historic names for the two divisions of the court. This process began in the United Kingdom with the passage of the Judicature Acts in 1873.

[edit] Structure and Jurisdiction

The court now operates under the Supreme Court Act 1970, although provisions on the appointment and removal of judicial officers were incorporated into the state's Constitution in 1992. The court consists of 47 judges, including the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, 9 Judges of Appeal, the Chief Judge in Equity and the Chief Judge in Common Law. 4 Associate Judges deal with pre-trial motions and non-jury trials. The Chief Justice usually sits in the Court of Criminal Appeal while the President sits in the Court of Appeal.

The court hears very serious cases such as murder and treason, civil cases involving more than $750 000 and civil matters such as wills, injunctions, Admiralty. The court's work at first instance is divided between the Common Law Division, which hears civil, criminal and administrative law matters and the Equity Division which hears equity, probate, commercial, admiralty and protective matters. The court includes the Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal which hear appeals from the District Court and the Local Court and from single judges sitting in the Common Law or Equity Divisions. The Court of Appeal also hears appeals from the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales and a number of administrative tribunals.

The Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal are respectively the highest civil and criminal courts in the state. To appeal to the High Court of Australia from the Court of Appeal or the Court of Criminal Appeal, special leave must be granted by the High Court.

Although the Constitution of Australia borrows extensively from the Constitution of the United States, appeals from state supreme courts to the High Court are not limited to matters in which a federal question arises and the Constitution empowers the Federal Parliament to make laws vesting state courts with federal jurisdiction.