Court Hierachy

Question 1

What are the reason for a court hierarchy?

Answer 1

Two of the main reasons for courts in the civil justice system is to ensure administrative convenience, and to allow appeals.

Question 2

What is administrative convenience?

Answer 2

Using a court hierarchy, cases can be distributed, according to their seriousness and complexity. Smaller disputes of less than 100k, can be heard quickly and inexpensively in the magistrates court. Since we have more minor disputes in Victoria, we have more magistrates courts. More serious cases are heard in the county and supreme court, which of have unlimited jurisdiction however can often take longer to come to a conclusion.

Question 3

Appeals in civil courts?

Answer 3

If someone is dissatisfied with an outcome, they can appeal to the higher court on the grounds that:

• on a point of law: where a law has not been followed
• a question of fact: Whether the facts of the case had been applied appropriately to reach the decision
• the remedy awarded: The way in which a court enforced a right, or the order that was made by another court.