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Its legal institutions and traditions are substantially derived from that of the English legal system, which superseded Indigenous Australian customary law during colonisation. [1] Australia is a common-law jurisdiction, its court system having originated in the common law system of English law .
As the colonies expanded, Australia gradually began to achieve de facto independence. Over the years as a result the foundations of the Australian legal system gradually began to shift. This culminated in the Australia Act, an act formally ending legal ties with the UK.
The High Court of Australia sits at the apex of the Australian court hierarchy as the ultimate court of appeal on matters of both federal and State law. The large number of courts in Australia have different procedural powers and characteristics, different jurisdictional limits, different remedial powers and different cost structures.
The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia.It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a federation under a constitutional monarchy governed with a parliamentary system.
The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. [2] It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was established following the passage of the Judiciary Act 1903. [3]
Australian constitutional law is the area of the law of Australia relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Australia.Legal cases regarding Australian constitutional law are often handled by the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian judicial system.
Judicial independence is regarded as one of the foundation values of the Australian legal system, [1] such that the High Court held in 2004 that a court capable of exercising federal judicial power must be, and must appear to be, an independent and impartial tribunal. [2]
Before Federation, each Australian colony had a two- or three-tiered judicial system with a Supreme Court at its apex. [1] The colonial Supreme Courts followed the model of the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, as the High Court of Justice was known from the 1870s, when it was established by the Judicature Acts. [2]