Supreme Court of New South Wales

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The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the superior court for the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. It is around the middle of the Australian court hierarchy. The Supreme Court consists of a Trial Division and an Appeal Division. The court was established on 17 May 1824 by Royal Letters Patent. The first Chief Justice of the court was Francis Forbes. In 1840, the Colonial Legislature established a separate equity division in the court. Admiralty jurisdiction was added in 1911. The Supreme Court, in 1970, was one of the last Common Law jurisdictions in the world to combine its Equity and Common Law divisions into the one court. This process began in the United Kingdom with the passage of the Judicature Acts in 1873.

It hears very serious cases such as murder and treason, civil cases involving more than $750 000 and civil matters such as wills, injunctions, Admirality. It also contains the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal which hear appeals from District and Local Courts and appeals of decisions of single judges of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Building

Chief Justices of New South Wales

• Sir Francis Forbes: 1824–1837
• Sir James Dowling: 1837-1844
• The Right Honourable Sir Alfred Stephen, G.C.M.G., C.B.: 1844-1873
• The Honourable Sir James Martin: 1873-1886
• Sir Julian Emanuel Salamons: 12-27 November 1886
• The Right Honourable Sir Frederick Matthew Darley, G.C.M.G.: 1886-1910
• The Honourable Sir William Portus Cullen, K.C.M.G., LL.D.: 1910-1925
• The Honourable Sir Philip Whistler Street, K.C.M.G.: 1925-1934
• The Honourable Sir Frederick Richard Jordan, K.C.M.G.: 1934-1949
• The Honourable Sir Kenneth Whistler Street, K.C.M.G., K.St.J.: 1950-1960
• The Right Honourable Herbert Vere Evatt, LL.D.: 1960-1962
• The Honourable Sir Leslie James Herron, K.B.E., C.M.G., K.St.J.: 1962-1972
• The Right Honourable Sir John Robert Kerr, A.K., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., K.St.J.: 1972-1974
• The Honourable Sir Laurence Whistler Street, K.C.M.G., K.St.J.: 1974-1988
• The Honourable Anthony Murray Gleeson, AC: 1988-1998
• The Honourable James Jacob Spigelman: 1998-

References

• [Chief Justices of New South Wales - Law and History 2: LawlinkNSW]

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