Glossary - J Flashcards
Joint Committee
A committee of the parliament that includes members from both the upper and lower houses.
Joint Sitting
Under the deadlock provisions of the Constitution (s57) a double dissolution election can be followed by a joint sitting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. In a joint sitting, Senators and Members of the House of Representatives sit and vote as one house to reconsider the bills that triggered the double dissolution.
Judicial Power
The power to interpret the law or apply the law in individual cases.
Judicial Review
A term used to refer to the appeal process. It is often used to specifically refer to appeals from the decision of an administrative agency to a court.
Judge-made Law
All law that is created or modified by the courts. Court judgements make law by creating common law precedents and through statutory interpretation. In all non-Constitutional law, Acts passed by parliament override law made by the courts.
Judgement
A decision by a court to settle a civil or criminal dispute.
Judicial Discretion
The ability of a judge to apply reasonable or equitable principles in making a judgement. For example, criminal laws generally allow for judges to take account of an offender’s circumstances in deciding the severity of a criminal sanction.
Judicial Independence
A key element of the separation of powers between parliament and the courts. Judicial independence requires that a subsequent Act of Parliament cannot overturn an existing judgement of the court in an individual case. It also should not be possible for parliament to pressure the courts to make decisions approved by parliament. Judicial independence requires that judges have secure tenure. It should only be possible to remove judges from office under extraordinary circumstances.
Judiciary
The judiciary are the members of a court of law who interpret laws and settle disputes. They comprise the third arm of government.
Jury
A group of men and women randomly selected from the general population to hear evidence in a trial and, on the basis of the evidence, reach a decision on questions of fact or ‘truth’ in a case.
Jury Duty
The requirement that citizens, unless otherwise exempted, are liable to be called up to be part of a jury in a District or Supreme Court trial.
Judge
The title of the presiding person who makes the final decision (usually with a jury) in a case if it goes to trial in the Supreme or District Courts. A judge is referred to as Sir, Ma’am or Your Honour.
Justice
Justice is society’s concept of fairness. Justice requires that legal processes are based on consistent rules applied in an unbiased manner and that the individual laws are based on prevailing social values and fundamental human rights.
