U3AOS2Topic 5: The Victorian court hierarchy in civil law

The reasons for the Victorian court hierarchy in determining civil disputes:

1. Administrative convenience.
2. Appeals.

Note:

1. This dot point is slightly different to the equivalent one in U3 AOS1 (criminal law). Please do not use specialisation as a reason for the Victorian court hierarchy in determining civil disputes. That is a reason for the Victorian court hierarchy in specifically determining criminal disputes.
2. You should already know the civil jurisdictions of the courts as it is assumed knowledge.

Civil Jurisdictions:

1. Magistrates' Court hears civil claims under $100,000 (original jurisdiction) and it has no appellate jurisdiction.
2. County Court of Victoria hears civil claims up to an unlimited amount (original jurisdiction) and it hears no appeals unless given power under a specific Act of Parliament (appellate jurisdiction).
3. Supreme Court (Trial Division) hears civil claims up to an unlimited amount (original jurisdiction) and it hears appeals on a question of law from the Magistrates' Court (unless the Chief Magistrate made the order) and from VCAT (unless the president or a vice-president made the order).
4. Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) has no original jurisdiction and it hears appeals from a single judge of the County Court or Supreme Court (Trial Division), on a question of law from the Magistrates' Court when the Chief Magistrate made the order or on a question of law from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal when the President or a vice-president made the order.

Appeals:

1. Refer to a legal avenue available for an unsatisfied party which allows them to have their initial court's decision reviewed by a superior court.
2. It is not an automatic right for a party; rather, they must be granted leave to appeal, the permission to appeal a case, and have valid legal grounds for doing so (grounds for an appeal include: questions of law, questions of fact, and the remedy awarded).

Note:

1. Without a court hierarchy that is arranged in terms of rank and superiority, appeals wouldn’t be possible, as a decision from one court would not be able to be reviewed by another one.

Administrative Convenience:

1. Refers to the systematic benefit derived from having legal matters be distributed amongst the courts according to their complexity and severity.
2. Is contingent on the existence of the court hierarchy, as the arrangements of the courts mean that the superior courts, such as the Supreme Court, have the capacity to devote time and resources to long and complex cases, which means that they are not delayed by resolving minor disputes, and the lower courts, such as the Magistrates' Court, can quickly resolve a large number of relatively minor disputes to minimise delays for such cases