Chapter 1G: Victorian Court Hierarchy (Part 2)

Question 1

What is the criminal original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (Trial Division)?

Answer 1

Unlimited, usually conducts trails for the most serious indictable offences, such as murder or terrorism offences

Question 2

What is the civil original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (Trial Division)?

Answer 2

Unlimited, usually hears claims greater than $100,000, representative proceedings

Question 3

What is the criminal appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (Trial Division)?

Answer 3

Appeals from the Magistrates Court on questions of law

Question 4

What is the civil appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (Trial Division)?

Answer 4

Appeals from VCAT and Magistrates Court on questions of law

Question 5

What is the original jurisdiction of the High Court?

Answer 5

Constitutional matters, disputes between states and disputes in which the Commonwealth is a party

Question 6

What are the appellate criminal and civil jurisdictions of the High Court?

Answer 6

Appeals from the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal)

Question 7

What does specialisation refer to?

Answer 7

The expertise of each of the courts in hearing certain types of cases

Question 8

How does a court hierarchy ensure specialisation?

Answer 8

By assigning each court a defined jurisdiction, which allows court staff to specialise in providing a certain set of services

Question 9

What is administrate convenience?

Answer 9

Separating minor offences hear by lower courts from more serious cases heard in higher courts

Question 10

How does a court hierarchy ensure administrative convenience?

Answer 10

The courts are arranged from least to most superior which allows offences to be heard accordingly

Question 11

What does administrative convenience allow?

Answer 11

Superior courts to devote more time and resources to complex disputes and lower courts to quickly resolve large numbers of minor disputes, minimising delays

Question 12

What is an appeal?

Answer 12

A request made by to a superior court, to review and if successful, alter a previous decision made by a lower court

Question 13

How does the ability for a party to appeal the outcome of a case promote fairness?

Answer 13

It allows a case to be reheard if there are sufficient grounds

Question 14

How does a court hierarchy ensure appeals are able to operate?

Answer 14

Without the courts being ranked, it would not be possible to have decisions reviewed by superior courts

Question 15

What is the doctrine of precedent?

Answer 15

The legal mechanism by which decisions made in superior courts must be followed in the future, when a case has similar facts and is heard in a lower court

Question 16

How does the doctrine of precedent promote fairness?

Answer 16

It ensures that like cases are decided in a similar way

Question 17

How does a court hierarchy uphold the doctrine of precedent?

Answer 17

Courts are ranked according to superiority, allowing for precedent to be binding or persuasive