Supreme Court of Western Australia

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The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of AUD 500,000 or more), and hears the most serious criminal matters.

The Supreme Court consists of a General Division (equivalent to the Trial Division in other states) and the Court of Appeal. The General Division deals with serious criminal matters and civil cases where the amount claimed is greater than $500 000 AUD.

The current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is Wayne Martin who was formally appointed to the position on 4 April 2006. Martin was appointed after a lengthy selection process which followed the retirement of David Malcolm on 7 February. Martin had been one of Western Australia's leading QC's prior to his appointment.

History of the Court

The Supreme Court was established in 1861 when the Court of Quarter Sessions (a criminal court for serious matters) and the Civil Court were amalgamated. Sir Archibald Burt was the first Chief Justice of the court.

The Full Court of the Supreme Court was established in 1886 to decide both criminal and civil appeals. In 1893 the criminal appeals were transferred to the Court of Appeal which was then reconstituted as the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1911.

The Supreme Court, Full Court and Court of Criminal Appeal were effectively the one court with each judge able to sit on cases in any of the courts.

In 2004 the Full Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal were subsumed by the Court of Appeal, which, while still a division of the Supreme Court, has judges which sit solely on appeal cases.

Judges

The Bench of the Supreme Court is currently constituted as follows (in order of seniority):

The Honourable Justice Wayne Stewart Martin, Chief Justice of Western Australia
The Hon. Justice Christopher David Steytler, President of the Court of Appeal

Judges of Appeal:

The Hon. Justice Neville John Owen
The Hon. Justice Christine Ann Wheeler
The Hon. Justice Leonard William Roberts-Smith RFD
The Hon. Justice Carmel McLure
The Hon. Justice Christopher James Lonsdale Pullin
The Hon. Justice Michael John Buss

Judges - General Division:

The Hon. Justice Michael John Murray
The Hon. Justice Anthony John Templeman
The Hon. Justice Geoffrey Peter Miller
The Hon. Justice John McKechnie
The Hon. Justice Nicholas Paul Hasluck AM
The Hon. Justice Eric Michael Heenan
The Hon. Justice Michael Laurence Barker
The Hon. Justice Narelle Johnson
The Hon. Justice Rene Lucien Le Miere
The Hon. Justice Lindy Jenkins
The Hon. Justice Ralph Lloyd Simmonds
The Hon. Justice Peter Donald Blaxell

Masters:

Craig William Sanderson
David Wallace Newnes

References

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