The Magistrates Court of Queensland is the lowest court in the court hierarchy of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. All

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

proceedings in Queensland begin in the Magistrates Court, with minor offences being dealt with summarily, and more serious ones being referred to a higher court on the strength of evidence. Most criminal cases are first heard in the Magistrates Court, as are most

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

cases. The Magistrates Court hears approximately 95% of all court cases in Queensland. Decisions made by the Magistrates Court may be heard on

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

to the

District Court of Queensland The District Court of Queensland (QDC) is the second tier in the court hierarchy of Queensland, Australia. The Court deals with serious criminal offences such as rape, armed robbery and fraud. Juries are used to decide if defendants are guilty ...

. The Magistrates Court does not have an

appellate jurisdiction A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

. The

Chief Magistrate Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...

of Queensland, since 2019, is

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Terry Gardiner.

Jurisdiction

Civil

The Magistrates Court has the jurisdiction to decide on civil matters for which the amount in dispute is less than or equal to 150,000. Civil matters in which the amount in dispute is more than $150,000 are decided by either the District Court or the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Criminal

The Magistrates Court has the jurisdiction to decide on charges of summary offences, and indictable offence which may be heard summarily. The Magistrates Court also conducts committal hearings in which the presiding magistrate decides, based on the strength of the evidence, whether to refer the matter to a higher court.

Procedure

Those present at court typically include the

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

police prosecutor In certain jurisdictions, police prosecutors are employed by the police, as counsel for the prosecution, to present cases in court. Australia In Australia, all States and Territories (other than the Australian Capital Territory) employ Police Pros ...

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...

and

witnesses In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

for either

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

. It is a condition that those who enter the court bow to the Queensland Coat of Arms, situated behind the Bench, upon entry. Plaintiffs, defendants, their

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

and witnesses must rise when they wish to address the bench or when addressed by the magistrate. Members of the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

and

general public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

are allowed into the courtroom, except where a party to the proceedings is under 18 in which case the court becomes a child court and the media and public will only have restricted access to the court.

Notable former magistrates

Di Fingleton Diane McGrath Fingleton (born 11 January 1947) is a former magistrate in the Queensland Magistrates Court, most notable for being appointed Chief Magistrate and later being convicted of the offence of intimidation of a witness, before the conv ...

Basil Gribbin Basil Gribbin was a co-ordinating magistrate in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court and a member of the Queensland Magistrates Association, which is the equivalent of a Magistrates Union. Gribbin served as a Magistrate from 9 January 1987 to 10 May ...

References

Attribution

* This Wikipedia article incorporates text fro
''About Magistrates Courts''
published by the

State of Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

unde
CC-BY 3.0 AU
licence (accessed on 4 August 2016).

External links

* {{Australian Courts Queensland courts and tribunals Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Government