Federal Circuit Court of Australia

Federal Circuit Court of Australia

The Federal Court Building in Melbourne, a location of the Federal Circuit Court
Established 1999
Jurisdiction Australia
Location
Decisions are appealed to
Decisions are heard for appeals from

Certain federal tribunals and other federal bodies, including:

Website www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au
Chief Judge
Currently John Pascoe AC, CVO
Since 2004

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia (formerly known as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia) is an Australian court with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to family law and child support, administrative law, admiralty law, bankruptcy, copyright, human rights, industrial law, migration, privacy and trade practices.

The Court was created to deal with the increasing workload of the Federal Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia, by hearing less complex cases for them and freeing those Courts to deal only with more complex cases. The Federal Circuit Court deals with approximately 95% of migration and bankruptcy applications filed in the federal courts. Approximately 90% of the Court's workload is in the area of family law. The Court also deals with nearly 80% of all family law matters filed in the federal courts.[1] It is also intended to replace (in part) the federal jurisdiction with which state courts have been invested under the Judiciary Act 1903.

History

The court was established on 23 December 1999 by the Australian Government as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia, as a result of royal assent of the Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (Cth).[2] The court is now known as the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and the Act as the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999.[2][3] Its first judicial officers were appointed in 2000; it first applications were filed on 23 June 2000 and the Court’s first sittings were conducted on 3 July 2000 in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta and Townsville.

On 12 April 2013, in recognition of its increased jurisdiction and its role as an intermediate court servicing regional centres as well as capital cities throughout Australia, it was renamed the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and its judicial officers received the title "Judge" instead of "Federal Magistrate".[4]

There are now over 60 judges of the Court. The first Chief Federal Magistrate, Diana Bryant left the court in 2004 when she was appointed Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, the third person to be appointed that position since the establishment of the Family Court. The current Chief Judge is John Pascoe AC, CVO, appointed to the role in 2004. The current judges of the Court come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including barristers, solicitors, academic lawyers, and legal aid and public service lawyers.

Jurisdiction

Bankruptcy, migration and family law comprise the largest components of the Court's work.[5]

Family law

There has been a progressive shift over the past 10 years in the balance of workload between the Federal Circuit Court and the Family Court of Australia, with the majority of all family law matters and most divorces now heard in the Federal Circuit Court. This has resulted in the Family Court of Australia becoming a smaller court which manages all appeals and deals with the most lengthy and complex family law cases.

The Federal Circuit Court's family law jurisdiction covers:

General federal law

The Federal Circuit Court shares jurisdiction with the Federal Court of Australia. The largest volume of the court's general federal law work is in bankruptcy applications and migration. The Federal Circuit Court deals with 95 per cent of all migration applications that are filed in the federal courts. In addition, the Court deals with a significant number of industrial law and human rights matters.

The Federal Circuit Court's general federal law jurisdiction covers the following:

Administrative law

The Court has original jurisdiction under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (Cth). The Court, on remittal from the Federal Court, hears appeals from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Admirality

Bankruptcy

All civil claims and matters under the Bankruptcy Act 1966, except those requiring jury trials. The vast majority of bankruptcy court cases in Australia are heard by The Federal Circuit Court (92% in 2004-5).[5]

Consumer law (Trade practices)

The Court has civil jurisdiction with respect to claims under the following provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (formerly known as the Trade Practices Act 1974):

The Court can provide injunctive relief and award damages of up to $750 000. The Court also has civil jurisdiction with respect to claims under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. There is provision in certain proceedings for a litigant to elect that an application for compensation be dealt with as a small claims proceeding.

This jurisdiction includes hearing matters relating to (but not limited to) unfair trade practices, product safety and information matters, consumer protection matters, pyramid selling, and importation and manufacture of defective goods.

Human Rights

Federal unlawful discrimination matters under the Australian Human Rights Commissions Act 1986 relating to complaints under the:

The Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Court of Australia to hear and determine complaints of unlawful discrimination based on sex, age, race and disability. Its power to grant relief is wide – it may, for example, grant unlimited damages.

Industrial law

The court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Court for matters under the:

The Court also has jurisdiction in relation to certain matters under the Independent Contractors Act 2006. This jurisdiction is exercised by the Court's Fair Work Division.

Intellectual property (Copyright)

The Court may hear civil claims and matters, under parts V, VAA, IX and Section 248J of the Copyright Act 1968 such as claims for injunctions and damages for breach of copyright.

Migration

Reform in 2005 limited first instance jurisdiction to the Federal Circuit Court and the High Court to review administrative decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, the Refugee Review Tribunal and the Migration Review Tribunal.[6] The Court does not have jurisdiction to undertake a merits review of these types of decisions.

Privacy

Enforcing determinations of the Privacy Commissioner and private sector adjudicators under the Privacy Act 1988.

Controversies

In 2006 the Court was embroiled in controversy when it was revealed that Magistrate Jennifer Rimmer had plagiarised the work of her colleagues when writing decisions.[7]

Chief Judges

The Court has a Chief Judge (known as the Chief Federal Magistrate when the Court was called the Federal Magistrates Court).

Only two people held the title of Chief Federal Magistrate. They were:

In 2013, when the Court became the Federal Circuit Court, John Pascoe, the former Chief Federal Magistrate, became the Chief Judge of the Court, and has continued to hold that position to the present day.

List of Federal Circuit Court Judges

As of July 2017, the judges of the Court were:[8]

Name Location Appointed
Donald, WarrenWarren Donald Parramatta 13 June 2000
Mead, ChristineChristine Mead Adelaide 13 June 2000
Baumann, MichaelMichael Baumann Brisbane 19 June 2000
Hartnett, NorahNorah Hartnett Melbourne 19 June 2000
Coker, JohnJohn Coker Townsville 26 June 2000
Driver, RolfRolf Driver Sydney 31 July 2000
Brown, StewartStewart Brown Adelaide 5 November 2001
Barnes, ShenaghShenagh Barnes Sydney 5 November 2001
Jarrett, MichaelMichael Jarrett Brisbane 2 February 2004
Emmett, SylviaSylvia Emmett Sydney 5 July 2004
Pascoe, JohnJohn Pascoe AC, CVO, Chief Judge Sydney 14 July 2004
Riethmuller, GrantGrant Riethmuller Melbourne 19 July 2004
Nicholls, NickNick Nicholls Sydney 23 August 2004
Sexton, RobynRobyn Sexton Sydney 27 September 2004
Lapthorn, KevinKevin Lapthorn Brisbane 29 August 2005
Henderson, LouiseLouise Henderson Parramatta 28 November 2005
Hughes, KateKate Hughes Melbourne 30 January 2006
Riley, HeatherHeather Riley Melbourne 3 July 2006
Burchardt, PhilipPhilip Burchardt Melbourne 10 July 2006
O'Sullivan, JohnJohn O'Sullivan Melbourne 10 July 2006
Lucev, ToniToni Lucev Perth 14 August 2006
Cameron, RobertRobert Cameron Sydney 3 October 2006
Altobelli, TomTom Altobelli Sydney 13 November 2006
Coates, StephenStephen Coates Brisbane 24 November 2006
Spelleken, LeanneLeanne Spelleken Brisbane 11 December 2006
Kelly, CharlotteCharlotte Kelly Adelaide 12 March 2007
Terry, JanetJanet Terry Newcastle 10 April 2007
Neville, WarwickWarwick Neville Canberra 2 July 2007
Kemp, DaleDale Kemp Sydney 4 July 2007
Howard, PaulPaul Howard Brisbane 9 July 2007
Purdon-Sully, SusanSusan Purdon-Sully Brisbane 15 October 2007
Cassidy, MargaretMargaret Cassidy Brisbane 5 November 2007
Bender, EvelynEvelyn Bender Melbourne 15 September 2008
Demack, AnneAnne Demack Rockhampton 22 September 2008
McGuire, TerryTerry McGuire Melbourne 6 October 2008
Dunkley, DavidDavid Dunkley Sydney 13 October 2008
Baker, BarbaraBarbara Baker Hobart 27 October 2008
Monahan, GeoffreyGeoffrey Monahan Sydney 3 November 2008
Cole, PeterPeter Cole Adelaide 24 November 2008
Willis, JosephineJosephine Willis Cairns 27 January 2009
Harman, JoeJoe Harman Parramatta 7 June 2010
Turner, LeanneLeanne Turner Darwin 7 June 2010
Myers, MatthewMatthew Myers Newcastle 23 January 2012
Curtain, RonRon Curtain Melbourne 23 January 2012
Harland, AlexandraAlexandra Harland Darwin 15 March 2013
Small, JudithJudith Small Melbourne 15 March 2013
Suzanne Jones Melbourne 3 June 2013
Nicholas Manousaridis Sydney 1 July 2013
Joanne Stewart Melbourne 2 September 2013
Salvatore Vasta Brisbane 1 January 2015
Sandy Street Sydney 1 January 2015
Justin Smith Sydney 27 January 2015
Ian Newbrun Parramatta 4 February 2015
Tony Young Darwin 31 July 2015
Joshua Wilson Melbourne 2 November 2015
Steven Middleton Newcastle 9 November 2015
Timothy Heffernan Adelaide 23 November 2015
Philip Dowdy Sydney 7 December 2015
Jillian Williams Melbourne 29 February 2016
Elizabeth Boyle Sydney 29 February 2016
Alister McNab Melbourne 18 May 2016
Brana Obradovic Paramatta 30 May 2016
Amanda Tonkin Canberra 1 January 2017
Robert Harper Sydney 18 January 2017

Federal Circuit Court judges are assisted by Associates and Deputy Associates, many of whom are qualified lawyers.

The Court sits permanently in each state capital, although in Perth it only hears general federal law matters as the Family Court of Western Australia has sole jurisdiction over family law in that state. The Court also sits permanently in the major regional centres of Launceston, Cairns, Townsville, Parramatta and Newcastle and regularly circuits to a large number of regional cities to hear family law cases. The Court hears some applications and evidence by telephone or video evidence when parties or witnesses live a long way from the Court.

In keeping with the Court's requirement to act as informally as possible, section 3 of the Federal Circuit Court Act, barristers are not required to robe for interim or interlocutory applications and wigs are not worn for any occasion. Barristers are only required to robe for final hearings before the Federal Circuit Court for all judgments, trials and contested hearings in which oral evidence is to be adduce practice direction number 1 of 2010

See also

References

  1. "About the Federal Circuit Court". Federal Circuit Court of Australia. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (Cth) s 8.
  3. Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999 in ComLaw
  4. Federal Attorney-General's announcement
  5. 1 2 "PART THREE: PERFORMANCE" (PDF). Federal Magistrates Court. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  6. O'Brien, Dennis (19 July 2013). REVIEW ON THE MERITS OF MIGRATION AND REFUGEE DECISIONS – REFLECTIONS ON THE OPERATION OF THE MIGRATION REVIEW TRIBUNAL AND REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL IN AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD (Reprint). Australian Institute of Administrative Law National Administrative Law Conference. Editorial Committee of Australian Institute of Administrative Law. Canberra: AustLII. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  7. http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Magistrate-accused-of-plagiarism-quits/2006/12/19/1166290517592.html
  8. "Federal Magistrates of the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia". Federal Court of Australia. Retrieved 1 January 2012.


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