Although legal formalism is a critical component to the Australian legal system, judicial creativity is essential when the legislation fails to satisfy rule of law ideals. One key example of this is that although abortion is an offence under the Queensland Criminal Code, it was ruled this year by the Supreme Court that a 12 year old was able to proceed with terminating a pregnancy in a Queensland public hospital. This case’s outcome would be viewed as incorrect using reasoning from a strict legal formalism approach, however it is justified as it demonstrates judicial creativity can be employed when legal formality and procedural legality have not been met. The case being discussed is Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service v Q [2016] QSC 89. The applicant for this case is the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service. The first respondent is Q, a 12-year-old girl who is nine weeks pregnant. Q was referred to the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service after visiting a general practitioner to terminate her pregnancy. The Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service, the applicant for this case, then applied to the court in the parens patriae jurisdiction for authorisation to terminate Q’s pregnancy. The parens patriae jurisidiction refers to the power of the court to impose a decision about a child on the basis it is for the child’s best interest. The second respondent is Q’s Father and the third respondent is Q’s Mother. The amicus curiae Ms
Family Law is a diverse and specialised branch of law, being both emotional and complex. However, despite this family law is relatively effective in achieving ‘just and fair’ outcomes for couples and status for children, yet ineffective in ‘resolving disputes’ over children and domestic violence issues.
Case 1 is an appeal to the conviction rendered by District Court Judge Bradley on
Critically assess the applicability of this statement as an analysis of the current approach of the judiciary to statutory interpretation in Australia.
Disputes between individuals can be resolved through mediation, tribunals and courts are sought depending on the complexity and nature of the dispute. Their effectiveness in achieving justice for and between individuals to varying extents will be assessed by their ability to uphold notions of fairness, equality, access, timeliness, enforceability and resource efficiency.
The aim of Australia’s family law while responding the ever changing values of society, is to achieve justice in any activity it undertakes. The success of this is valued and determined by whether any significant action has been taken as a result, and what the effects of such actions are on improving the situations of all parties involved. The effectiveness of family law on changing values cannot be determined when regarded as a whole. However, when broken down into certain values, such as in the topic of best interest of the child during separation and the issue of surrogacy, it can be seen that Australia’s family laws are not effective in levelling with the community’s changing values.
The adversarial nature of Australia’s court system deal with facts and legal implications. Here lies the establishment of such principles that make the law
Your managing partner has handed you the Supreme Court of Queenslands’ decision in The Public Trustee of Queensland and Anor v Meyer and Ors [2010] QSC 291 and asked you to answer the following questions. You should assume you are answering questions for someone who has not read the case, so be sure to provide sufficient detail in your answers. You do not need to provide reference details for Part A of the assignment.
Aboriginal customary laws, before white settlement in 1788, were considered primitive by the British, if considered at all. But Aboriginal laws and customs had lasted hundreds of years, based on traditions such as kinship ties and rituals.
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines fairness to be ‘the quality of treating people equally or in a way that is reasonable’ and justice as ‘the quality of being fair or reasonable’ (Oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com, 2014). Investigation of the characteristics of the Australian Legal System (ALS) including its adoption, structure and operational rules, reveal that for the most part the system is based on these two attributes. This inference is further evidenced by the legally binding operational framework assigned to the financial services industry and reflected in the codes of practice that also guide it.
It is recognised that Australia’s System of decision making in the court is in need of reform, if the
Is our NSW court system effective? It is if you have money. Is it something that we can just adhere to with out ever allowing it to adapt and evolve to meet societies needs? Absolutely not. Just like humanity, the NSW court system contains protruding faults that are made apparent with further scrutiny. The court system is something that requires our constant attention and support to improve and advance. In order for the court system to attain eligibility it relies heavily on 4 fundamental components; affordability, simplicity, fairness and accessibility. For countless Australians our legal system is lacking on all these fronts.
The term "Court Hierarchy" is a very important word in the law world in modern society. It's definition gives a very clear and concise meaning to the law industry. The phrase can be split into two words to be easily dealt and understood. The word "court" is from a Greek derivative "cohors" or "cohort" meaning courtyard or retinue. It's definition from the dictionary certainly portrays the law as a very important and distinguished practice. "a. A person or body of persons whose task is to hear and submit a decision on cases at law." "b. The building, hall, or room in which such cases are heard and determined." The word, "hierarchy", however, has a more powerful and specific relation to the law world. It is a Greek derived word and
In Australia, all behaviour is legal unless prohibited by law. The power over criminal law is shared between the state and the commonwealth governments; therefore each state defines its own crimes and provides its own courts to resolve these types of disputes.
In both the common and civil law traditions the ordinary function of a court is adjudicative. Courts make findings on disputed questions of fact, identify and apply the relevant law to the facts as agreed by the parties or found by the court, consider the legal consequences and award appropriate remedies. Thus, a state that adheres to the principle of ‘rule of law’ provides legal certainty to it citizens, to plan their lives with less uncertainty and protects them from to the law from arbitrary use of state power. The rule of law ‘first and foremost seeks to emphasize the necessity of establishing a rule-based society in the interest of legal certainty and predictability.’
The term ‘common law’ is the name given to legal systems who embrace the English legal system. Originally, it was created as a case law, judge made centered system. It set out to focus on legal principles, which were created by judicial verdict. However, over time the body of the legal principles matured from the courts, as now, when a judge handles a case, they have to set out to establish what the facts are proceeding the case, and how to determine how the law applies to those facts. When making a verdict of how the law applies to set of facts, a system of precedent will be emplaced. In turn, the courts will form a hierarchy, this is because findings of the higher courts bind the lower courts together, thus, meaning that they will both be required to apply the same doctrine of law as the higher court when confronted with similar cases. (The Open University, 2015, p.5)