The Courts of Australia

The highest court in Australia is the...

• High Court of Australia

• Commonwealth Court

• Supreme Court

• Court of Queen Elizabeth II

Answer explanation

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA. If a case or judgment goes to this court, it cannot be overruled by any other court.

The Australian court system has 2 streams. They are...

• the Commonwealth stream and the State/Territory stream

• the High stream and the Low stream

• the judge stream and the magistrate stream

• the public stream and the private stream

Answer explanation

The Commonwealth and State/Territory streams both depend on the High Court if a final judgment is needed.

The High Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts are....

• Superior Courts

• Inferior Courts

• State Courts

• Territory Courts

Answer explanation

SUPERIOR COURTS. These courts can hear any sort of case from anywhere.

There is one Supreme Court...

• in every State and Territory

• on every street corner

• in every city

• in Australia

Answer explanation

Every State and Territory has its own Supreme Court. A judgement can still be referred to the High Court for appeal.

Superior Courts can..

• hear disputes in most areas of law

• do their own catering

• overrule each other

• only deal with matters that the other courts cannot

Answer explanation

Superior courts can deal with most matters of law.

Appeals. In legal matters that have been decided on in court, an appeal is an attempt to...

• have the matter re-tried (and get a different decision)

• get the judge to change his mind

• get mercy from the Governor

• get the Prime Minister to help

Answer explanation

Appeals can be done at a local level, or they may go higher. In some countries, an appeal can get you a worse decision! This is not the case in Australia.

Decisions in NSW local courts can be appealed to...

• the Supreme Court of NSW

• the High Court of NSW

• the Family Court of NSW

• the US Supreme Court

Answer explanation

If the losing side in a court decision in NSW thinks they might get a different judgement (they thought it was unfair, or have new evidence) they can appeal to an ordinary court, or to the Supreme Court of NSW. Or if the case is important enough, the High Court of Australia.

The special court that deals with marriage, divorce, custody of children etc. is the ...

• Family Court

• Custody Court

• Divorce Court

• Marriage Court

Answer explanation

The Family Court of Australia, with branches in every State and Territory, was established in 1976. Before that, such matters had to go through a regular court.