Unifying Legal System In Australia

Each and every colony would have had a different system whether it was their laws, taxes, railway systems, tariffs and transport, this was a problem.

The Australian government system has been originally created in 1901 through the Constitution. With the fundamentals carved in the Constitution, the Australian System is often referred to as a ‘Washminster System’ as it is a hybrid of the Washington (US) and Westminster (UK) system of government. With the fusion of North America and the United Kingdom’s government systems, the phenomenon of the bicameral system was implemented in the Australian system. Bicameralism’s origins are from England and it was later established in the United States. Hence, the onset of the Australian system’s structures was anglocentric by reflecting the foundations and concepts of England. However, the concept of bicameralism is known to have existed since medieval times and has since been in the chronical of the Western political progress for centuries. Bicameralism is an important system in the Australian government. It refers to a government which consists of two chambers, or houses. Alike North America, the houses are known as the House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Senate (the upper house). On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, the chambers are known as the ‘House of Commons’ (the lower house) and the ‘House of Lords’ (the upper house). In 1789, North America altered their constitution in order to ratify how the American citizens were represented. Through bicameralism, the House of Representative would represent the people equally by population, whereas the Senate would

The Australian Legal System was around the 1700’s when Britain brought its own legal system over when they were setting up the colonies in Australia. Over a century or so Britain began granting limited rights to set up a local legal system within the British colonies. They were granted this right, and were able to develop their own laws and legal systems. The passing of the Australian Constitution began an independent legal system that formed part of the governmental system in Australia, which took place in 1901, and while the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia was indeed an Act of the British Parliament, Britain's involvement in the Australian Government begun to decrease. However, there was minor propulsion for Australia to procure

Due to negative aspects that were presented in cases such as the Corey Davis case, the effectiveness of the Australian Legal System in accomplishing justice began to be viewed to demonstrate flaws in certain occasions by the Australian public. The Australian legal system aims to achieve equality and fairness towards the citizens of Australia to avoid anarchy within the nation. This is accomplished by set rules and laws that are created by the government. However, if these rules and laws are to be broken by an individual or a group of people living within the borders of the country, they may face legal consequences that include getting a fine, imprisonment, a life sentence or in some occurrences, a combination of these forms of punishment. In the Corey Davis case, an eleven year old boy that is identified as ‘W’ is sent to trial for committing an offence towards a six year old boy. An outline of the events in the Corey Davis case will be further explored as well as the involvement of the police, the conduct of the court system throughout the investigation of the case and its influence in achieving justice, and a summary of the trial. Furthermore, the debate about the current age limit for doli incapax and whether it is appropriate for modern society will be discussed as the Corey Davis case raised arguments about this topic. The Australian legal system aims to achieve justice, however certain instances such as the Corey Davis case have proved that it may occasionally

Since the time of the first fleet until now, Australian law has been divided between two types of Australians, the settlers and the indigenous. Since the time of the first fleet, the settlers put into place English law to rule the land known as Australia and make laws on the rights of the people, the indigenous and the land. Since then, Australian law has come a long way in the development of a fairer constitution and enacting laws for the indigenous to close the gap between them and the settlers.

In 1901, the six British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania federated to become the Commonwealth of Australia. Several factors including defence and immigration, railways and nationalism contributed to the federation of 1901 when Australia was officially declared an independent nation separate from Britain with an independent government.

An instrument in the Australian political system that produces a fair and democratic society is the Federal Constitution 1901 because it outlines the powers and constraints of the Australian political/legal system. The constitution creates a democratic and fair society because as Judge Murphy describes, it allows “an equal share of power”, this is evident through the division/separation of powers. Moreover, Gordon Reid and Martyn Forrest support Murphy’s claims regarding the constitution producing a fair society because it ‘uphold[s] the highest ideals of political representation’. The constitution protected rights regarding democracy in s 41,7 and 24, thus producing a democratic/fair society. However, in regards to values and ethics the constitution had failed to produce a democratic and fair society in the past, because suffrage was only granted to non-aboriginal men. This was due to the values and ethic of the time period, in which it was thought that aboriginals were not ‘citizens’ and women not qualified to vote.

A great deal of these problems are structural: that Australia is over-governed; that the roles and responsibilities of Commonwealth and State governments are not clearly delineated and that the 19th Century constitutional division of powers is not capable of meeting the challenges presented by increasing globalisation, international economic competition and rapid advances in technology and communication. From a different perspective the problem lies in the manner of federalism’s practical operation in the failure of existing intergovernmental institutions to facilitate effective cooperation between governments such that in some areas there is too much centralisation and in other areas not enough; in unnecessary overlapping, duplicative and inconsistent regulation in a federation characterised by rancour, disagreement, blame shifting and a lack of accountability and finally a significant vertical fiscal imbalance and an increased centralisation of

In Australia, these ideas are used to follow different benchmarks and incorporate key concepts from the Westminster system. This is having an impact on how the doctrine of separation of powers is applied. ("35 Separation of Powers," 2012) To fully understand what is happening there will be a focus on: the separation of powers at the federal / state / territorial levels, what it means and how entities are operating. Together, these elements will provide specific insights that will highlight how this doctrine is influencing the way various governments are interacting with each other and the people.

Ever since its inception, one of the High Court’s primary duties has been to interpret the Australian Constitution. There have been many methodologies used to do so and many schools of thought (have been adopted by different judges) in approximately the last hundred years, but so far there still isn’t one consistent and cohesive way of interpretation . In this essay three types of options or methodologies that have been more commonly used by High Court judges will be discussed. They include: literalism/legalism, originalism and progressivism. Other options that may be considered by the High Court will also be examined in this paper.

In Australia the judiciary system is a key aspect to uphold peace, order and a good government. The Australian government is ruled by a separation of powers; the parliament, Executive and the judiciary. These powers are a significant feature of the Australian system of government as the power to change and make federal law is divided between these powers (Parliamentary Education Office). The judiciary is a part of the government which delivers justice according to the law (Queensland Parliament 2015). The term ‘judiciary’ refers broadly to the persons who run the system; the courts, judges, magistrates, adjudicates and other support personnel (Queensland Parliament 2015). The judiciary must not be biased and act without fear to those of

Australia's six states turned into a nation under a solitary constitution on 1 January 1901. Today Australia is home to individuals from more than 200

The Australian legal system founded as a part of the British colony system in Australia. Between the period of 1855 and 1890 British parliament abdicated from some parts of the Australian legal system which is implemented within British colonies in Australia. This approach introduced a “responsible government” which allowed to have own legal and law system within different British colonies to resolve legal issues separately.

The task here is to compare the Australian Legal System with the legal system of the country of origin therefore the comparison is with the Pakistani Legal System. The structure of the Common Wealth Government, Australia briefed in the constitution is divided into three branches, the legislature (Senate “upper house” and House of Representatives “lower house”), executive (the administrative arm of Government) and judiciary (the legal arm of the Government). While in Pakistan the Parliament and Federal Government also consists of Senate the upper house and National assembly the lower house.

The Federal government has the power to make the laws for all Australian Territories. Specific areas of legislative power are given to the federal government which includes taxation, defense, foreign affairs and postal and telecommunications services.