The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...

, is the highest

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

for civil matters and has

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 ...

in the

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n state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeal operates pursuant to the . The Court hears appeals from a variety of courts and tribunals in New South Wales, in particular the Supreme Court, the

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, the Land and Environment Court, the District Court, the Dust Diseases Tribunal, the Workers Compensation Commission, and the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal. The Court of Appeal must grant leave to appeal a judgment of an inferior court, before it hears the appeal proper. If a petitioner is not satisfied with the decision made by the Court of Appeal, application may be made to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established following passage of the '' Judiciary Act 1903''. ...

for special leave to appeal the decision before the High Court. Because special leave is only granted by the High Court under certain conditions, the Court of Appeal is in effect a court of final appeal for many matters.

History

The Court of Appeal was established in 1965, replacing the former appellate Full Court of the New South Wales Supreme Court, and commenced operations on 1 January 1966 with the appointment of the President, Sir Gordon Wallace, and six Judges of Appeal, Bernard Sugerman, Charles McLelland, Cyril Walsh, Kenneth Jacobs, Kenneth Asprey and John Holmes Dashwood. The advent of the Court of Appeal was controversial, as it introduced another order and unexpectedly uprooted the established order of hierarchy and seniority among judges of the Supreme Court.

Current Composition

The Court of Appeal, , consists of the

Chief Justice of New South Wales The Chief Justice of New South Wales is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of New South Wales. The Chief Justice is both the judicial head of the Supreme Co ...

, the President of the Court of Appeal and the judges of appeal. Apart from the Chief Justice and the President of the Court, there are ten judges of appeal with current commissions. Traditionally two of them are heads of the Common Law Division and the Equity Division, and sit full-time in those Divisions as primary judges. The Chief Judge at Common Law is currently Robert Beech-Jones, while the Chief Judge at Equity is currently David Hammerschlag. The chief judges will on occasion sit as appeal judges from time to time. The Governor can appoint Acting Judges of Appeal. They have all rights and powers as a Judge of Appeal. There is presently one acting judge of appeal,

Carolyn Simpson Carolyn Chalmers Simpson (born 30 March 1946) was a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales for 24 years and of its Court of Appeal for nearly three. Justice Simpson made legal history in 1999 as one of three women judges who formed the fi ...

. Each sit full-time in the Court of Appeal, although will hear primary cases in the Divisions as the need arises. Most judges in the Court of Appeal also sit on the Court of Criminal Appeal in varying degrees of frequency. The Chief Judge at Common Law and the Chief Judge in Equity also sit on the Court of Appeal (and the Court of Criminal Appeal) from time to time.

Presidents of the Court of Appeal

References

External links

Supreme Court website

(Caselaw NSW) * {{Authority control