Year 10 Legal Studies - Term 1

1. The Role of
Judges

2.  Differs according to which court the judge is hearing the
case in
 The Magistrates Court will be involved in hearing about
the facts relevant to a particular case
 Much of this will involve facts rather than the law
 Often different witnesses will have different version of
the facts – the judge in the Magistrates Court will
decide which version is the correct one
 The judge will make decisions on issues that arise from
the facts (questions of fact)
 Questions of fact: details of what the case is about;
what happened

3.  Usually the Magistrates Court will not have much
freedom in deciding which law applies to which
fact
 They have virtually no role in changing the law or
developing the law
 We can say that (as a general rule) the lower in
the hierarchy the court is, the more involved it will
be in finding out facts, and in applying law to facts
 Compare this to the function of judges in the High
Court – the highest court in Australia…

4.  High Court judges will have virtually no role in deciding facts
 It is extremely rare for HC judges to listen to evidence from
witnesses because the court will rely on the findings of fact made
in the lower court
 HC judges will make decision on questions of law
 Questions of law: how the law applies to the particular case
 They have more freedom in developing the law – they have
some role in changing the law and developing the law in
response to changes in society
 We can say that (as a general rule) the higher in the hierarchy
the court is, the more involved it will be in developing the law

5.  When there is no relevant law that can be applied to a
current case, a judge can decide that no legal remedy
is available to the plaintiff
 The defendant has no legal responsibility to the plaintiff
even though the facts of the case indicate the plaintiff
has suffered injury or damage by the defendant
 The judge can, however, decide that in all fairness the
dispute should somehow be resolved
 The judge can establish a new legal principal to decide
the case at hand