Supreme Court of South Australia
Encyclopedia : S : SU : SUP : Supreme Court of South Australia
The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court for the Australian State of South Australia. 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.
History
The creation of a Supreme Court was somewhat unique in the case of South Australia. In South Australia the notion of a Supreme Court formed part of Edward Wakefield's theory of colonization as opposed to the other Australian colonies, which established their courts long after the settlement of the colony.The court was established on January 2 1837 by Letters Patent five days after the colony was founded, it was endowed with the power of all the common law and probate jurisdiction of Westminster. The first sessions were not held until May of that year, presided by Sir John Jeffcott, the first Chief Justice of the court.
After Sir John Jeffcott's death in December of 1837, Henry Jickling was appointed as an acting justice, although appointed as a caretaker judge, Jickling was responsible for two important issues, he codifed the testamentary causes jurisdiction of the court and admitted the first practitioners of the supreme court in March 1838.
Justice Jeffcotts Replacement on the court was Charles Cooper. Reports of ill health prompted the Governor Young to ask for the appointment of a second judge, as a result Justice Crawford was appointed. Justice Crawford was the first justice to wear a wig in court. Crawford died after only two years on the bench.
Crawford was replaced by Justice Boothby, Boothby was a contreversial judge that did not believe in the power of the colonial parliaments to enact laws, he arguabley started the first Constitutional Crisis in Australian history when he ruled that the South Australian Constitution of 1856 invalid, causing the Imperial Parliament to pass the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865. Boothby was removed as a justice of the Supreme court July of 1867, he appealed to the Privy Council in England but he died before his appeal could be heard.
It was during Boothbys time in the court that the first Queens Councils were appointed and the first circuit sittings of the court took place in country South Australia.
Jurisdiction
Also note that the Supreme Court also has exclusive probate jurisdiction (Wills & Estates) as well. In regard to criminal matters, generally only category 1 crimes are tried in the supreme court (Murder, Treason, Manslaughter. Otherwise, it acts as an appellate court for criminal decisions at first instance in the District Court of South Australia and for the Magistrates Court of South Australia (through Magistrate's appeals). In terms of civil matters, it again is an appeal court for decisions of the District Court of South Australia and Magistrate's Court.
Current Justices of the Supreme Court
Chief Justice:
The Honourable John Jeremy Doyle
Associate Justices:
The Honourable John William Perry
The Honourable Kevin Patrick Duggan
The Honourable Bruce Malcolm Debelle
The Honourable Margaret Jean Nyland
The Honourable David John Bleby
The Honourable Thomas Gray
The Honourable John Robert Sulan
The Honourable Ann Vanstone
The Honourable Timothy Russell Anderson
The Honourable Richard Conway White
The Honourable Robyn Layton
Masters:
His Honour Judge Robert Lunn
His Honour Judge Brian Withers
References
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.