reasons for the victorian court hierarchy - 3.1.8

Question 1

what is the order of the victorian hierarchy of courts?

Answer 1

1. high court (federal)
2. supreme court (court of appeal)
3. supreme court (trial division)
4. county court
5. coroner’s court. magistrate court. children’s court

Question 2

what is original jurisdiction?

Answer 2

power of the court to hear the case for the first time

Question 3

what is appellate jurisdiction?

Answer 3

power of the court to hear a case that is being reviewed or challenged (from lower court)

Question 4

original jurisdiction in victorian courts:

Answer 4

MC: summary and indictable heard summarily, committal proceedings, bail application and warrant application
CC: indictable offence (no murder, attempted murder, certain conspiracies, corporate offences)
SCtd: most serious indictable offences
SCca: no original jurisdiction

Question 5

appellate jurisdiction in victorian courts:

Answer 5

MC: no appellate jurisdiction
CC: from magistrate court on conviction or sentence
SCtd: From magistrate court on points of law
SCca: from county or supreme court, from magistrate where Chief magistrate decided the case

Question 6

what is specialisation?

Answer 6

• areas of expertise that courts develop and that the personnel have expert knowledge in

e.g. CC: drug offences, sexual offences, theft
MC: summary, committal proceedings, self represented accused

Question 7

what are appeals?

Answer 7

• when a party is dissatisfied with the outcome of the criminal case and takes the matter to a higher court to challenge the decision.

party who appeals: appellant
other party: respondent

Question 8

what are grounds for appeal?

Answer 8

• appealing on a question of law (both parties)
• appealing a conviction (only the offender can appeal)
• appealing the sanction imposed (too lenient or severe)

Questions for Connie Sanders

Question 9

what are the strengths of the court hierarchy?

Answer 9

• allows specialisation = efficiency, process or resources (e.g. more mag court and mags to hear the volume of offences)
• allows appeals to be made by both parties

Question 10

what are the weaknesses of the court hierarchy?

Answer 10

• many courts can be confusing for people who don’t understand the justice system ( most confusing for charged people, need to go to mag court (committal proceeding) and one of the other court (trial))
• no automatic right to apeal, offender needs to establish grounds for appeal, can be restricting access to appea especially for self-represented people who may struggle to formulate grounds for appeal.