MAGISTRATES’ COURT OF
VICTORIA
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Jurisdiction
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the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria is the
bottom tier of Victoria’s court hierarchy, and
is established by the Magistrates’ Court Act
1989.
the Court’s objective is to provide an efficient,
modern and responsive Court of summary
jurisdiction designed to meet the needs of the
community.
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OF
THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT
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Jurisdiction
 The Magistrates’ Court has the jurisdiction to hear and
determine:
 summary offences, and
 some indictable offences
Summary Offences
 A summary offence is a minor offence, and includes:
 road traffic offence (careless driving, drink driving and
unlicensed driving)
 minor assaults
 property damage, and
 offensive behaviour
A summary offence may be heard in the absence of the defendant
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OF
THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT
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Indictable Offences
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An indictable offence is a serious offence, and
includes:
burglary
 indecent assault
 drug trafficking offences
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Some indictable offences can be triable
summarily (heard in the Magistrates’ Court if):
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the prosecution and the defendant agree
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OF
THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT
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Types of Hearings –
 Cases are heard and determined in a number of ways:
 pleas
 hearings, and
 committal hearings
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Plea – A plea is where the defendant admits to the charge and
pleads guilty
Hearing – A hearing will be held where the defendant does not
admit the charge and pleads not guilty
The evidence will be heard by a magistrate who will determine
whether or not the defendant is guilty of the offence
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OF
THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT

Committal Hearing
 A committal hearing will be held in cases where a person has
been charged with an indictable offence, unless:
 it is heard summarily
 the defendant is pleading guilty to the charge, or
 the defendant wishes to face trial without a committal
hearing

The purpose of a committal hearing is to:
 determine whether there is enough evidence for a ‘prima
facie’ case to exist, eg: is there enough evidence to support
a conviction
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OF
THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT

In summary, the Criminal Jurisdiction of
the Magistrates’ Court is to hear:
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summary offences
indictable offences that can be tried
summarily
committal hearings
Appeals: In criminal cases a defendant
may appeal against a conviction or
sentence to the County Court
CIVIL JURISDICTION OF THE
MAGISTRATES’ COURT
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Jurisdiction
 The Magistrates’ Court has the jurisdiction to hear and determine most
civil disputes with a claim of up to $100,000, including cases for:
 money owed
 damages arising from motor vehicle accidents
 personal injury, or
 contractual disputes
Arbitration
 The monetary claim for less than $10,000 will usually be referred to
arbitration, where the matter will be heard and determined by a
Magistrate in a less formal manner than that of a hearing
Appeals in Civil Cases
 A party in a civil proceeding:
 cannot appeal a magistrate’s decision to the County Court, but
 may appeal to the Supreme Court on a question of law
PERIN COURT
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Jurisdiction
 The PERIN Court (Penalty Enforcement by Registration of
Infringement Notice) is part of the Magistrates’ Court of
Victoria
Role of the Court
 The role of the PERIN Court is to order the payment and
recovery of unpaid fines without the need for such matters
to go before a magistrate
 Approximately 450,000 unpaid infringement notices are
registered with the PERIN Court each year
 Any individual who has received an infringement notice
may elect to have the matter dealt with by a magistrate in
open court
PERIN COURT
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Infringement penalties and notices

An infringement penalty is a fine imposed for
committing a minor offence that would usually
be uncontested at court, such as a:
traffic offence
 parking offence, and
 littering offence
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CHILDREN’S COURT OF
VICTORIA
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Children’s Court of Victoria
 The Court is divided into two Divisions as follows:
 the Criminal Division, and
 the Family Division
Criminal Division of the Children’s Court
Jurisdiction
 The Criminal Division of the Children’s Court deals with cases
where defendants were aged between ten and less than
seventeen years at the time of allegedly committing the offence
before the Court
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If the defendant has reached the age of eighteen years by the
time the case appears before the Court, the Magistrates’ Court
will deal with the matter
CHILDREN’S COURT OF
VICTORIA
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Criminal Division of the Children’s Court continued:
Jurisdiction
 The Court can hear and determine all charges except the following,
which must be heard and determined in the Supreme Court:
 murder
 attempted murder
 manslaughter
 arson causing death, and
 culpable driving causing death
Types of penalties
 The types of orders that can be made in the Criminal Division of the
Children’s Court include:
 undertakings
 good behaviour bonds
 fines
 youth supervision orders
 youth attendance orders, and
 youth training centre orders
CRIMINAL DIVISION OF THE
CHILDREN’S COURT
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Appeals
 A party to a proceeding may appeal:
 to the County Court against a sentencing order of a magistrate, and
 to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court against a sentencing
order of the President
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A party to a proceeding may appeal to the Trial Division of the Supreme
Court on a question of law
Family Division of the Children’s Court
Jurisdiction
 The Family Division of the Children’s Court has the jurisdiction to hear
and determine matters including:
 interim accommodation orders
 a finding that a child is in need of protection
 protection orders, and
Coroner’s Court

Role of Coroner
 The State Coroner is responsible for ensuring that all reportable deaths
are investigated:
 A coroner investigating a death must find, if possible:
 the identity of the deceased
 how the death occurred
 the cause of death, and
 the details needed to register the death with the Registry of Births,
Deaths and Marriages
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A coroner may:
 comment on any matter connected with a reportable death,
including issues of public health and safety or the administration of
justice, in an attempt to prevent similar deaths occurring again, and
 investigate fires that are of public significance
Coroner’s Court
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Reportable deaths
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A reportable death occurs when a person dies::
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unexpectedly
in a violent or unnatural way
from an accident or injury
during or as a result of an anaesthetic
while held in care (for example, in prison, police custody or a
psychiatric institution)
the deceased’s identity is not known, or
a doctor has been unable to sign a death certificate detailing
the cause of death
COUNTY COURT OF
VICTORIA
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Jurisdiction
 The County Court of Victoria is the middle tier of Victoria’s
court hierarchy, and is established by the County Court Act
1958
 The Court has a criminal, civil and appellate (appeals)
jurisdiction
Criminal jurisdiction
 The Court can hear all indictable offences except the
following: which must be heard in the Supreme Court:
 murder
 attempted murder
 treason
COUNTY COURT OF
VICTORIA
Criminal jurisdiction continued:
 Examples of criminal offences heard in the Country Court
include:
 drug trafficking and associated offences
 serious assaults
 serious theft
 sex offences such as rape, and
 obtaining financial advantage by deception (eg: dishonoured
or stolen cheques)
 culpable driving
 armed robbers

Civil jurisdiction of County Court
 The Court has an unlimited jurisdiction to hear cases where a
claim is for compensation where a person is injured or has died.
 In other civil matters, such as breach of contract, the Court’s
jurisdiction is limited to $200,000.
SUPREME COURT OF
VICTORIA
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The Court is divided into two Divisions:
 the Trial Division, and
 the Court of Appeal
Types of cases heard:
 Examples of types of cases heard in the Trial Division include:
 Criminal
 all cases of treason, murder and attempted murder
 Civil
 personal injury actions involving large or complex claims that
are heard by a judge, or a judge and jury (unlimited amounts
generally over $200,000)
Court of Appeal
 The Court of Appeal determines matters including applications for new
trials and appeals against decisions of:
 the trial Division of the Supreme Court
 the County Court, and
 the President and Vice Presidents of VCAT
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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Role of the Court
 the High Court is the highest court in the Australian
judicial system. It was established in 1901 by Section
71 of the Constitution
 the functions of the High Court are to interpret and
apply the law of Australia; to decide cases of special
federal significance including challenges to the
constitutional validity of laws and to hear appeals; by
special leave, from Federal, State and Territory courts
 the seat of the High Court is in Canberra
 decisions of the High Court are binding on all other
courts throughout Australia