Supreme Court of Tasmania

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The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania.

The Court was established on 7 May 1824 by Letters Patent, and is the oldest Supreme Court in Australia (predating the Supreme Court of New South Wales by just ten days). Sir John Pedder, after whom Lake Pedder is named, was the first Chief Justice of the court.

The ordinary sittings of the Court occur in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie in Tasmania. The Court's Appeal division sits only in Hobart.

[edit] Jurisdiction of the Court

It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of AUD $20,000 or more), and hears the most serious criminal matters. It is around the middle of the Australian court hierarchy. The Supreme Court consists of a Trial Division (also known as Original Jurisdiction) and an Appeal Division (or Appellate Jurisdiction.)[1]

Appeals from the Appeal Division of the Court are to the High Court of Australia. Until 1986 it was possible to directly appeal from the Court of Appeal, or Court of Criminal Appeal (both parts of the Appeal Division) to the British Privy Council; however, this was abolished in 1986 and the High Court of Australia is the only course of appeal from the Supreme Court of Tasmania.[citation needed]

The Court receives appeals from Magistrate Courts in Tasmania in both criminal and civil matters. Serious (or "indictable") criminal matters are first examined in the Magistrates Court in a Committal process, where it is decided whether a case should proceed to trial, and then transferred to the Supreme Court of Tasmania for trial or (where there is a plea of guilty) for sentence.

Unlike some other Australian states, Tasmania does not have an intermediate court division between the Supreme Court and the Magistrates Courts (such as a "District Court" or a "County Court").

[edit] Composition of the Court

The Supreme Court of Tasmania is composed of seven justices appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Executive Council, a body of senior ministers including the state Premier. The current bench of the Supreme Court of Tasmania in order of seniority (with dates of appointment to the bench) are:[2]

The Honourable Chief Justice Peter George Underwood (appointed to Court 20 Aug 1984, appointed Chief Justice 2 Dec 2004);
The Honourable Justice Ewan Charles Crawford (5 Oct 1988);
The Honourable Justice Pierre William Slicer (3 Jun 1991);
The Honourable Justice Peter Etherington Evans (10 Jun 1998);
The Honourable Justice Alan Michael Blow, OAM (13 Jun 2000);
The Honourable Justice Shan Eve Tennent (13 Mar 2005)

At this time, there is one vacancy on the Supreme Court of Tasmania.

There is also one lesser judicial officer, called the Master, with responsibility for largely procedural matters in civil proceedings, and for some work in assessing the damages (amounts claimable) in civil proceedings. The current Master of the Supreme Court of Tasmania is Mr Stephen Holt (appointed 6 Sept 1999).