LLB1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Federal Circuit Court Of Australia, Appellate Jurisdiction, Adversarial System
Document Summary
Hierarchy of courts: a particular order graded according to function and status. Superior courts also have a role in making law through the development and application of the common law. The higher courts are responsible for establishing the legal principles which serve as precedents in later cases. Under the doctrine of precedent, courts lower in the hierarchy are obliged to follow the legal rules laid down by higher courts in the same appellate structure. Remember: not bound by the decisions (outcomes) bound by the reaons = ratio. Jurisdiction = power and authority conferred upon a court to hear and determine a matter. Original jurisdiction is the authority to hear a case when the case is first bought before a court. Appellate jurisdiction is the authority of a court to hear appeals from decisions of courts of a lower level in the same court hierarchy. Jurisdiction conferred by statute, or for hc by constitution. Cth decisions do override state decisions however