The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court

Court

A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...

 for the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n State

States and territories of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...

 of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. It has unlimited jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

 within the state in civil

Civil law (common law)

Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...

 matters, and hears the most serious criminal

Criminal law

Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

 matters. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy

Australian court hierarchy

There are two streams within the hierarchy of Australian courts, the federal stream and the state and territory stream. While the federal courts and the court systems in each state and territory are separate, the High Court of Australia remains the ultimate court of appeal for the Australian...

. It is presently constituted of a Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 and 12 other judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

s (justices).

History

The creation of a Supreme Court was unique in the case of South Australia. In South Australia the notion of a Supreme Court formed part of Edward Wakefield's

Edward Gibbon Wakefield

Edward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of South Australia, and later New Zealand....

 theory of colonization, in contrast to the other Australian colonies, which established their courts long after the settlement of the colony.

The court was established by Letters Patent

Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...

 on 2 January 1837, five days after the colony was founded. It was endowed with all the common law and probate jurisdiction of the courts of Westminster. The first sessions were not held until May of that year, presided over by Sir John Jeffcott

John Jeffcott

Sir John William Jeffcott BA MA was the first judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia. He also served as Chief Justice of Sierra Leone.-Biography:...

, the first judge of the court. (The title of Chief Justice was not officially introduced until the coming into force of Act No 31 of 1855-1856.)

After Sir John Jeffcott's death in December 1837, Henry Jickling

Henry Jickling

Henry Jickling was appointed as a caretaker judge in 1837 to the Supreme Court of South Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of South Australia.-Judicial Appointment:...

 was appointed as an acting judge. 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 Jeffcott's replacement on the Court was Sir Charles Cooper

Charles Cooper (judge)

Sir Charles Cooper was a politician and the first Chief Justice of South Australia.Cooper was born in Henley-on-Thames, the third son of Thomas Cooper, under-sheriff of Oxfordshire. Charle entered the Inner Temple in 1822 and was called to the bar in February 1827. He practised on the Oxford...

. Reports of ill health prompted 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 controversial judge who did not believe in the power of the colonial parliaments to enact laws. He arguably started the first constitutional crisis

Constitutional crisis

A constitutional crisis is a situation that the legal system's constitution or other basic principles of operation appear unable to resolve; it often results in a breakdown in the orderly operation of government...

 in Australian history when he ruled that the South Australian Constitution of 1856 was invalid, causing the Imperial Parliament to pass the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865

Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865

The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its long title is "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws"....

. Boothby was removed as a justice of the Supreme Court in July 1867. He appealed to the Privy Council in England but he died before his appeal could be heard. Unfortunately, we will never know whether he was lawfully removed or not.

During Boothby's time on the Court, the first Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

s were appointed and the first circuit sittings of the Court took place in country South Australia. Also, during his time on the Court, the world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled and armoured battleship, the (British) HMS Warrior, was launched. It is not known for sure if it was launched in response to the constitutional crisis he arguably created, but pundits have suggested as much.

Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court exercises both original

Original jurisdiction

The original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court's decision.-France:...

 and appellate jurisdiction

Appellate jurisdiction

Appellate jurisdiction is the power of the Supreme Court to review decisions and change outcomes of decisions of lower courts. Most appellate jurisdiction is legislatively created, and may consist of appeals by leave of the appellate court or by right...

 in civil and criminal matters. The Supreme Court is a court of both law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 and equity. Although it has unlimited jurisdiction in civil matters, generally the civil trials heard in the Supreme Court are those involving complex legal or factual issues or large sums of money. The Supreme Court also has exclusive jurisdiction in probate

Probate

Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...

 (Wills & Estates), meaning that it is the only South Australian court which can hear such matters. In criminal matters, generally only the most serious crimes are tried in the Supreme Court (for example Murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

, Treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

, Attempted Murder

Attempted murder

Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...

 and Manslaughter

Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...

) although the Court occasionally hears trials for less serious offences. Trials for Murder and Treason may not be heard in any other court in South Australia. When exercising its original jurisdiction, the Court is usually constituted of a single judge.

The Supreme Court hears appeals from the Magistrates Court of South Australia in both civil and criminal matters, and also from decisions of Supreme Court Masters

Master (judiciary)

A Master is judicial officer found in the courts of England and in numerous other jurisdictions based on the common law tradition. A master's jurisdiction is generally confined to civil proceedings and is a subset of that of a judge. Masters are typically involved in hearing motions, case...

 and various other tribunals. In such cases, the Court ordinarily is constituted of a single judge. The Court sits as a Full Court (usually constituted by a bench of three judges) when it hears appeals from the decisions of a single judge of the Supreme Court or District Court

District Court of South Australia

The District Court of South Australia is South Australia's principal trial court. It was established as a court of record by the District Court Act 1991...

, or from certain other tribunals. Some of these appeals lie as of right, while others require leave (permission) from either the court appealed from or the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court sits as a Full Court in criminal matters (other than those originating in the Magistrates Court and Youth Court), it is commonly referred to as the "Court of Criminal Appeal".

Unlike the Supreme Courts of some other States, the Supreme Court of South Australia is not divided into separate trial and appeal divisions. From time to time, all judges of the court sit in civil and criminal trials and as members of the Full Court and Court of Criminal Appeal. There is a division of the Court known as the Land and Valuation Court, which has jurisdiction over matters arising under particular State statute

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

s dealing with planning and development law. Judges are assigned to this division by proclamation. In addition, particular judges may be designated to sit in the probate jurisdiction or assigned case management functions in respect of long and complex trials.

The proceedings of the Supreme Court of South Australia are normally heard in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

. In civil cases the Court normally sits in the old Supreme Court building, while criminal matters are generally heard in the Sir Samuel Way Building. (The two buildings are located across the road from each other, on the corner of Gouger Street and Victoria Square

Victoria Square, Adelaide

Victoria Square is a public square in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The square is in the centre of the city's grid of one square mile, and was named by the Street Naming Committee on 23 May 1837 after Princess Victoria, heir presumptive of the British throne. Less than a month later the...

.) The Court is empowered to sit in any place, including outside the State. The Court, constituted by a single judge, regularly travels on circuit to the rural centres of Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier, South Australia

Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....

 and Port Augusta

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

.

Subject to statutory exceptions, an appeal is available by special leave to the High Court of Australia

High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...

 from all decisions of the Supreme Court of South Australia by virtue of s 73 of the Australian Constitution. Ordinarily, appeals are taken to the High Court only from decisions of the Full Court or Court of Criminal Appeal.

Justices

• Margaret Nyland (15 October 1993)
• David Bleby (2 April 1997)
• Thomas Gray (26 April 2000)
• John Sulan (3 April 2003)
• Ann Vanstone (21 August 2003)
• Tim Anderson (27 November 2003)
• Richard White (6 May 2004)
• Michael David (6 July 2006)
• Trish Kelly (18 January 2007)
• Chris Kourakis (21 August 2008)
• David Peek (23 September 2010)
• Malcolm Blue (4 August 2011)
• Tim Stanley (4 August 2011)

See also

• List of Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia
• Judiciary of Australia
  Judiciary of Australia
  The judiciary in Australia is modelled substantially on the system of courts which existed in England.The large number of courts and tribunals in Australia have different procedural powers and characteristics, different jurisdictional limits, different remedial powers and different cost...
  
  

External links

• Supreme Court of South Australia Decisions