New South Wales Court of Appeal

New South Wales Court of Appeal
Established 1 January 1966
Country New South Wales, Australia
Location Sydney
Coordinates 33°52′08″S 151°12′42″E / 33.868918°S 151.211628°E / -33.868918; 151.211628Coordinates: 33°52′08″S 151°12′42″E / 33.868918°S 151.211628°E / -33.868918; 151.211628
Composition method Vice-regal appointment upon Premier's nomination, following advice of the Attorney General and Cabinet
Authorized by Parliament of New South Wales
Decisions are appealed to High Court of Australia
Judge term length mandatory retirement by age of 72
Website Court of Appeal
Chief Justice of New South Wales
Currently Justice Tom Bathurst
Since 1 June 2011
President of the Court of Appeal
Currently Justice Margaret Beazley
Since 1 March 2013

The New South Wales Court of Appeal is the highest civil state court for the Australian state of New South Wales. It forms part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and hears appeals from civil proceedings before the Supreme Court, the District Court, the Land and Environment Court, and some tribunals.

History

Although the New South Wales Court of Appeal commenced operation on 1 January 1966 with the appointment of the President, Sir Gordon Wallace, and six Judges of Appeal, Bernard Sugerman, Charles McLelland, Cyril Walsh, Kenneth Jacobs, Kenneth Asprey and John Holmes Dashwood, the Court of Appeal was established in 1965, replacing the former appellate Full Court of the New South Wales Supreme Court.[1] The advent of the Court of Appeal was controversial, as it introduced another order and unexpectedly uprooted the established order of hierarchy and seniority among judges of the New South Wales Supreme Court.[1]

Composition

The Court of Appeal consists of the chief justice, the president of the Court of Appeal and nine judges of appeal. There are currently 11 judges of appeal with current commissions. However, two of them, Justice Hoeben and Justice McClellan, are not operating full-time as judges of appeal. Justice Hoeben is chief judge at common law.[2] Justice McClellan is chairing a Royal Commission.[3] Currently these positions are filled by:

Chief justice

President of the Court of Appeal

Judges of the Court of Appeal[4]

Most judges in the Court of Appeal also sit on the Court of Criminal Appeal in varying degrees of frequency. The Chief Judge at Common Law and the Chief Judge in Equity also sit on the Court of Appeal (and the Court of Criminal Appeal) from time to time. There is also one current Acting Justices of Appeal: Ronald Sackville, a former judge of the Federal Court of Australia.

Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeal operates pursuant to the Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW). The Court hears appeals from a variety of courts and tribunals in New South Wales, in particular the Supreme Court and the District Court. The Court of Appeal must grant leave to appeal a judgment of an inferior court, before it hears the appeal proper. Special leave to appeal is required to appeal a judgment from the Court of Appeal to the High Court of Australia. Because special leave is only granted by the High Court under certain conditions, the Court of Appeal is in effect a court of final appeal for many matters.

References

  1. 1 2 Kirby M. (2008.) "Judicial Supersession: The Controversial Establishment of the New South Wales Court of Appeal", Sydney Law Review, Sydney Law School, Camperdown, 30:177–208.
  2. ↑ http://www.supremecourt.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/supremecourt/judicialcontacts.html
  3. ↑ http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/about-us/meet-our-commissioners
  4. ↑ http://www.supremecourt.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/supremecourt/judicialcontacts.html

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.