Criminal
Jurisdictions of
courts in Victorian
Court Hierarchy
• The Victorian court hierarchy consists of
traditional courts: the Magistrates' Court, the
County Court, the Supreme Court and Court of
Appeal, which is a part of the Supreme Court.
The hierarchy also includes specialist courts
that deal with certain cases such as the
Children's Court and Coroners Court. Each of
these Victorian (state) courts hears specific
cases within its jurisdiction.
Original and appellate
jurisdiction of the courts
• Each court has its own specific jurisdiction or
authority to hear certain types of criminal
cases according to how serious the crime is.
Courts have original jurisdiction, meaning they
have the ability to hear a case for the first
time. All courts, apart from the Magistrates',
Children's and Coroners Court, have appellate
jurisdiction to hear cases appealed from lower
courts.
• The Coroners Court does not ‘hear cases’ in
the traditional sense. They hold inquests into
deaths and fires, and assist the police with
inquiries into crimes.
The Magistrates’ Court
• The Magistrates' Court is located at the
bottom of the court hierarchy, but hears the
majority of cases. It is the busiest court in
Victoria, sits at 52 different locations around
Victoria and hears approximately 90 per cent
of all cases which come before Victorian courts
each year. The court deals with about 250 000
criminal and civil cases each year
Criminal jurisdiction
• The Magistrates' Court has original criminal
jurisdiction to hear summary offences,
indictable offences heard summarily and
committal hearings (see table 5.1 below). It
also hears bail applications and issues
warrants. However, it does not have an
appellate jurisdiction because it is the lowest
court in the hierarchy.
Type of offence
Examples
Outcome
Summary offences are minor or less
serious crimes.
Traffic offences such
as drink driving and
speeding, shop theft
and minor assaults
The maximum penalty
for summary offences is
two years imprisonment.
Indictable offences heard summarily.
Some indictable offences may be
heard in the Magistrates' Court
although they would normally be
heard in a higher court. Approval to
hear an indictable offence summarily
(i.e. in the Magistrates' Court) must
be given by the magistrate and the
prosecution must agree.
Theft and burglary
Having a case heard by a
magistrate may be
preferable as sanctions
(punishments) available
to a magistrate are less
severe than those
available to a County
Court judge
A committal hearing is a criminal pretrial procedure first conducted in the
Magistrates' Court for indictable
offences. The hearing's purpose is to
determine whether there is sufficient
evidence to support a conviction if
the case proceeds to trial in a higher
court.
Murder and rape
The accused either
stands trial in a higher
court (county or
supreme court) or if
there is insufficient
evidence the case is
dismissed and the
accused is released.
• A number of specialist courts exist within the
Magistrates' Court. The Koori Court, the Drug
Court and the Family Violence Court are also
specialist divisions of the Magistrates' Court
(see the Magistrates' Court and its specialist
courts and divisions for further detail about
these courts).
Children's Court of Victoria
• The Children's Court is a specialist Victorian court on the same bottom
level of the court hierarchy as the Magistrates' Court. The overall
purpose of the Children's Court is to hear and determine cases involving
children.
• Criminal jurisdiction
• The Criminal Division of the Children's Court hears criminal charges
against children and young people in Victoria aged between 10 and 18
years at the time they allegedly committed an offence, and under 19
years at the time the case is heard in the Children's Court.
• If a young person has turned 19 years by the time his or her court case is
heard in the Children's Court, the case is transferred to the Magistrates'
Court. This court also conducts committal hearings for young people
charged with indictable offences such as murder which would proceed
to trial in the Supreme Court. A case involving culpable driving would
proceed to the County Court.
Coroners Court
jurisdiction
• The Coroners Court is a specialist Victorian court on
the same level as the Magistrates' Court at the bottom
of the court hierarchy. It is presided over by a coroner,
who is a magistrate.
• It does not have a criminal jurisdiction. Instead, it has
jurisdiction to conduct coronial inquests and
investigate and report findings on the cause of
unexpected or suspicious deaths and cause of fires.
For example, the coroner investigated the cause of
the 2009 bushfires and the disappearance and death
of toddler Jaidyn Leskie, who vanished from his home
in 1997 while Greg Domaszewicz was babysitting.
County Court of Victoria
• The County Court is the intermediate court
between the Magistrates' and Supreme
courts.
For your exam you will
need to know original and
appellate jurisdiction of
County and Supreme
court
Criminal jurisdiction
• The County Court hears all serious indictable offences under its
original criminal jurisdiction, except those offences specifically
set aside for the Supreme Court, such as treason, murder and
certain other murder-related offences.
• Examples of indictable offences generally dealt with by the
County Court are rape, armed robbery, culpable driving and
serious drug offences.
• The County Court also has appellate criminal jurisdiction to hear
appeals from the Magistrates' Court against a conviction or
sentence. The prosecution has the right to appeal against the
sentence by arguing it is too lenient and the accused can appeal
against conviction or severity of the sentence. The prosecution
cannot appeal against an acquittal — a ‘not guilty’ verdict by a
jury.
Supreme Court of Victoria (Trial
Division and Court of Appeal)
• The Supreme Court is the highest court in the Victorian
court hierarchy with a judge presiding. The Supreme
Court is divided into two divisions: the Trial Division,
which hears and determines all matters in the Supreme
Court's original jurisdiction; and the Court of Appeal,
which is the appeals division of the Supreme Court
Trial Division
• The Supreme Court's original criminal jurisdiction
hears most serious indictable offences such as
treason, murder, attempted murder,
manslaughter and other murder-related offences.
When the accused pleads not guilty, a jury of
twelve is empanelled to decide a verdict. There is
no jury if the accused pleads guilty because the
judge will decide the sentence by imposing a
sanction. In its appellate jurisdiction, a single judge
of the Supreme Court can hear criminal appeals
from the Magistrates' Court on a point of law.
Victorian Court of Appeal — Appeals
Division of the Supreme Court
• The Court of Appeal, which is part of the Supreme
Court, has appellate jurisdiction to hear criminal
appeals from lower courts. Criminal appeals from the
County or Supreme courts are heard before two to
five justices in the Court of Appeal, depending on the
seriousness of the case.
• Criminal appeals from the county and supreme courts
usually are on one or more of the following grounds:
on a point of law (also referred to as a question of law
where the interpretation of the law itself is being
questioned in the trial case), against a conviction
(guilty or not guilty), or on the grounds of severity or
leniency of sentence.
• As mentioned previously, leave to appeal may
not be granted and, even if the appeal case
goes ahead, the accused who is appealing
against the severity of his or her sentence may
find that the sentence has been increased. For
example, in 2005, Luigi Vivona, who was
convicted of rape, appealed against his
sentence and had his sentence increased from
10 years to 14 years (R v. Vivona; DPP v. Vivona
[2005] VSCA 205).
Hierarchy of appeals in
Victoria
TEST your understanding
• 2.) Incorporate each word listed below in a sentence. A sample answer
is given below.
• Sample words: court, appeal, crime, offender
• Sample answer: If an offender commits a crime, goes to court and is not
happy with the sentence imposed, or believes a mistake was made on a
point of law, that person can appeal to a higher court.
• Magistrates' Court, summary, Melbourne
• committal, murder, prosecutor
• offender, drugs, crimes, sanctions, guilt
• 5.) Which court or courts hear criminal appeals from the Magistrates'
Court? Indicate grounds for appeal
APPLY your
understanding
Case
Luke was charged with having a
blood alcohol reading of 0.079.
Dan, 14 years old, was charged with
arson causing death.
Danny was convicted of murder but
felt the judge misdirected the jury.
Sienna was charged with drug
possession.
Sienna was charged with drug
possession.
Court
Original or appellate Jurisdiction