The Federal Court and the Australian System of Justice
[musical introduction] [image of the Court crest overlaid with the words ‘The Federal Court and the Australian System of Justice’]
Introduction [series of images of cargo vessels, judge in court handing documents to associate, stock exchange, court in session, chief justice, navy helicopter, passenger airline, celebrations and protests, “on country” native title hearing and aboriginal dancer]
The Federal Court of Australia plays a vital role in the administration of justice. It’s part of a democratic system of government that has its origins in the Australian Constitution. So just how does the system work? [image of map of the Commonwealth of Australia showing six states and two territories] Australia has a federal system of government with powers distributed between the Federal or Commonwealth Government and those of its six states and two territories. The Federal, State and Territory Governments are each ruled by elected parliaments. [image of Parliament House, Canberra] [image of Constitution document] [image of Constitution publication] The Australian Constitution confers the legislative, executive and judicial powers of the Commonwealth on three different bodies established by the Constitution. These are the Parliament, the Executive and the Judicature. [image Structure of the Constitution showing separation of powers] This is what is known as the separation of powers doctrine.
[image of Chief Justice Michael Black AC, Federal Court of Australia]
Chief Justice – ‘It means, as far as the judges are concerned, that judicial power is only exercised by judicial officers. It means a freedom to do what judges are appointed to do. [image of three judges entering court for full court hearing] What are judges appointed to do? They are appointed to decide controversies between parties without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. [image of judge at bench, courtroom barristers’ table and second judge on the bench] That’s the oath we all take and it really just sums it all up.’
[Heading: State and Territory Courts]
Like the Commonwealth each state and territory has three arms of government. [image of Parliament House, Canberra] The Commonwealth or Federal Parliament passes laws that are relevant to Australia. Immigration is a good example. [image of migrant family] State and Territory Parliaments on the other hand concentrate on areas such as schools, roads and criminal law. [images of general public, school children, barristers] Each state and territory has its own court system beginning at the lowest level with the Magistrates Court then an intermediate court usually called a District Court and finally the Supreme Court. [image showing hierarchy of State/Territory Courts] [image of Supreme Court building] Most criminal matters are dealt with by these courts.
[Heading: Commonwealth Courts]
[image showing hierarchy of Commonwealth Courts] Australia also has four national courts beginning with the Federal Magistrates Court, then the Federal and Family Courts and finally the High Court of Australia. [image showing hierarchy of the High Court] That is the final court of appeal from any court in the country. [image of High Court building]
[Heading: The Federal Court]
The Federal Court was established in 1976 and deals with virtually all cases of a civil nature arising under laws made by the Federal Parliament. [image of Federal Court building] Major areas of the court’s work include trade practices, migration, workplace relations and native title. [scrolling image of Commonwealth Acts of Parliament]
Chief Justice – [image of native title case held “on country”] ‘In many native title cases many judges think it appropriate to go out “on country” as we call it and take the evidence where the people are and where the parts of the country they want to talk about are and that involves quite remarkable changes in the way courts do things. Previously courts would sit in their courthouses, in our case in the capital cities. Very occasionally they would venture outside the courthouses to take evidence, for example, from a witness in hospital but it would be very unusual to conduct entire hearings or parts of hearings out in the countryside. [image of Chief Justice arriving in regional area by aircraft] [image of counsel preparing for hearing] Now that is commonplace in our court now. [image of Aboriginal person participating in hearing] Some of our judges have sat, and I myself have sat, in some of the most remote country and inaccessible country in the world.’ [image of “on country” courthouse and Aboriginal community]
[Heading: Assisted Dispute Resolution]
[images of mediation process] Not all disputes are resolved in a courtroom by judges. The Federal Court helped pioneer the use of ADR (Assisted Dispute Resolution) or mediation.
[image of Chief Justice]
Chief Justice – ‘Assisted dispute resolution can take many forms. Most commonly people see it as mediation where the parties appear before an experienced mediator and try and reach or are assisted to reach an out of court settlement of their dispute according to certain principles which in the ideal case means they both go away feeling satisfied. In the Federal Court we have some excellent registrars, court officers who are trained in that process and who have achieved remarkable results in cases where the parties are bitterly opposed to each other have actually gone away settling the disputes and in fact in some cases going back to a commercial or personal relationship again.’
[Heading: Conclusion]
[Series of images of members of the public] Initiatives such as ADR help to build public confidence, a confidence that is essential in maintaining Australia’s system of justice.
[Image of Chief Justice]
Chief Justice – ‘It is important that the public has confidence in the system because it really underpins our whole way of life. The public needs to have confidence that when a case is brought before a court the judge will decide it independently according to law and let me get back to the judicial oath again, without fear, favour, affection or ill-will. In other words the small party is not going to be over-borne by the powerful, that the rights will be decided according to law. It all comes back to what is according to law and that needs an independent judge to decide a case and if the public don’t have confidence that that’s what’s going to happen, their confidence in the whole system is eroded.’
[Closing image of Court crest overlaid with the words ‘Produced by the Federal Court of Australia, Public Information Unit, Melbourne, Australia]
