Our court system has a hierarchy at both the federal and state levels. Lower courts hear less serious criminal cases and smaller civil claims, while appeals and more serious matters move up through higher courts. Original jurisdiction refers to the first hearing of a case, while appellate jurisdiction allows for appeals of decisions. The High Court of Australia hears constitutional matters and appeals from lower federal and state courts. Specialist courts like the Family Court and Federal Court handle specific areas of law, while state courts include the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, District Court, and Magistrates Court which each have increasing or decreasing jurisdiction based on the seriousness or monetary value of a case.

1. Court Structure

2. • Our courts have a hierarchy federally as well as for each state
• Different courts hear different issues and some issues can be
appealed and so move up through courts

5. • Courts often have two jurisdictions:
• Original
• Appellate
• Original is the jurisdiction an issue/case is heard the first time
• If the outcome is not desirable, either party (prosecution or
defense) can appeal the decision (for a legal reason)
• The issue then goes to the appellate jurisdiction
• The appellate jurisdiction can be considered slightly higher
than the original jurisdiction of the same court
• ie. The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Qld is
slightly higher than the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
of Australia

6. Federal Courts
• The High Court of Australia has jurisdiction over:
• Constitutional matters
• Interpretation of the Australian Constitution, for example, whether the Qld. Govt. can
impose a new tax (original jurisdiction)
• Appeals from the State Courts of Appeal, Family Court of Australia and Federal
Court of Australia on civil and criminal cases (appellate jurisdiction)

7. • The Family Court of Australia has jurisdiction (original and
appellate) over:
• Family law matters including divorce, maintenance, property
settlements, rights of children following divorce (but no
jurisdiction over criminal cases)

8. • The Federal Court of Australia has jurisdiction (original and
appellate) over:
• Specific areas of law including competition laws, consumer laws,
bankruptcy, taxation law issues, immigration issues, a small
number of criminal cases

9. State Courts
• The Court of Appeal hears from:
• Civil and criminal decisions of Supreme Court, and some
decisions of the District Court (no original jurisdiction)
• Consists of 3 or 5 judges

10. • The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over:
• Appeals from the District Court (appellate jurisdiction)
• The most serious criminal offences that attract maximum prison
sentences of more than 14 years (eg. Murder, manslaughter)
(original jurisdiction)
• Offences by children such as murder, attempted murder, treason
and major drug offences
• Civil cases involving amounts more than $750,000 (no maximum
$ limit)

11. • The District Court has jurisdiction over:
• Appeals from the Magistrate Court (appellate jurisdiction)
• Most criminal offences that attract a maximum prison sentence
of less than 14 years (eg. Stealing, dangerous driving, rape)
(original jurisdiction)
• Civil cases involving amounts between $150,000 and $750,000
(original jurisdiction)

12. • The Magistrate Court has jurisdiction over:
• Minor criminal offences that may or may not attract a prison
sentence (eg. Drink driving, smoking marijuana)
• Civil cases involving amounts less than $50,000
• Domestic violence matters
• No appellate jurisdiction other than for tribunals
• Appeals from various tribunals (eg. The Small Claims Tribunal)
• Note that the Govt. has set up tribunals to have jurisdiction over
special types of cases

13. • There are also specialist courts at various levels, such as:
• Children’s Court (part of the District Court)
• For charges against children under 17
• Coroner’s Court (part of the Magistrates Court)
• To investigate the cause of death of people who die suddenly,
suspiciously or without obvious reason
• Drug Court (part of the Magistrates Court)
• To deal with sentencing people who have pleaded guilty to drug-
related offences

14. • The court hierarchy is important because:
• It is useful to know in which court to bring a legal action
• It is useful to know which court will hear an appeal from a
decision