The court was originally established in 1958 after the British Government transferred sovereignty for the islands from Singapore to Australia.
The court had jurisdiction to deal with all serious crimes and major civil claims for damages occurring on the Island.
The Islands became a territory of Australia on 23 November 1955 after having been administered as a dependency of the British Crown Colony of Singapore.
This Ordinance gives it all the jurisdiction which the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory had in 1955.
[7] In Clunies-Ross v Totterdell,[8] Justice French of the Federal Court of Australia held that the Bankruptcy Ordinance 1888 of the former Colony of Singapore continued to apply to the Island.
French J also held that the Bankruptcy Act 1914 (UK) continued to apply to the court.
In March 1991 it tabled its findings on those legal systems in what is known as the “Islands in the Sun” report.
The committee recommended that the laws that applied in Western Australia replace the existing legal regime.
[10] In 1992 the Australian Parliament passed laws which put into effect the recommendations of the committee.