Judiciary of Australia
Common law and equity are administered by the same courts, in a manner similar to that of the Judicature Acts in the United Kingdom.
For example, a federal judge may not be removed from office except by the Governor-General upon an address of both Houses of Parliament for proved misbehaviour.
[7] A single body[8] of Australian common law is applied in the various Australian courts, and ultimately determined by the High Court now that appeals to the (British) Judicial Committee of the Privy Council have been abolished.
[14] The Supreme Court of Queensland has a similarly specialized docket known as the Commercial List.
Further, it has an constitutionally entrenched general power of appeal from the Supreme Courts of the States.
[19][20] Appeals to the High Court are by special leave only, which is generally only granted in cases of public importance, matters involving the interpretation of the Commonwealth Constitution, or where the law has been inconsistently applied across the States and Territories.
[10] The Australia Act 1986 eliminated appeals from State Supreme Courts to the Privy Council.
[1] The court has original jurisdiction in these areas, and also has the power to hear appeals from a number of tribunals and other bodies (and, in cases not involving family law, from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
A second Deputy Chief Judge assists in the management of the general federal law and Fair Work jurisdictions of Division 2.
However, an attempt by the states and the Commonwealth to pass legislation that would cross-vest state judicial powers in the federal courts was struck down by the High Court in Re Wakim; Ex parte McNally,[28] as being unconstitutional.
Notwithstanding this failure, however, both state and federal courts can exercise an "accrued jurisdiction," which enables them to hear all legal issues arising from a single set of facts.
[citation needed] All the states and territories, with the exception of Tasmania, have a civil and administrative tribunal.
These hear cases relating to lesser state or territory administrative disputes (involving some individual, business or government body).
A table of the court hierarchy and civil and administrative tribunals of the Australian states and territories follows here:
