The Court of Disputed Returns in

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 ...

is a court within the

Australian court hierarchy The judiciary of Australia comprises judges who sit in federal courts and courts of the States and Territories of Australia. The High Court of Australia sits at the apex of the Australian court hierarchy as the ultimate court of appeal on mat ...

established initially in 1928 pursuant to the ''Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Amendment Act'', and since 2017 pursuant to the ''Electoral Act 2017''. The jurisdiction of the Court is exercised by 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 ...

and the Court considers petitions concerning the validity of any election or return under the Act. The Court is concerned with elections held for the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

and

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

elections within the state. The Court may also consider questions respecting the qualifications of a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council, or respecting a vacancy in either, but only if that question was referred by either the Assembly or the Council. The Court may declare that any person was not qualified to be a member of parliament, declare that any person was not capable of sitting as a member of parliament, or to declare that there is a vacancy.

The petition

The petition may be filed by the candidate or an elector entitled to vote at that election. In considering the petition, the court may inquire whether or not the petition is duly signed, and so far as rolls and voting are concerned may inquire into the identity of persons, and whether their votes were improperly admitted or rejected, assuming the roll to be correct, but the court shall not inquire into the correctness of any roll. For elections of officers to

Aboriginal Land Council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

s under the ''

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983'' (NSW) is an Act of the Parliament of New South Wales which was enacted to return land to Aboriginal peoples through a process of lodging claims for certain Crown lands and the establishment of Aboriginal La ...

'' (NSW), or a Rural Lands Board under the '' Rural Lands Protection Act 1998'' (NSW), the Land and Environment Court acts to consider disputed returns.

History

The Court's jurisdiction over disputed electoral returns can be traced to the practices of the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

. Until 1604, disputed returns were decided by the King in Chancery. From 1604 to 1868, the British House of Commons exercised the jurisdiction. The ''Grenville Act 1770'' (UK) provided for the determination of disputes by a Select Committee of the House of Commons. Later, a committee of 11 members were chosen by ballot to report their decision to the House. In essence, the parliament had the jurisdiction to determine whether a person had been properly elected, rather than the Courts. In 1868, the ''

Parliamentary Elections Act 1868 The Parliamentary Elections Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 125), sometimes known as the Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections Act or simply the Corrupt Practices Act 1868, is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament, since repealed. The ...

'' (UK) was passed conferring jurisdiction on two judges of the Queen's Bench. The transfer of jurisdiction from Parliament to the courts was hastened by a concern with the partisanship of Parliament in ruling on electoral disputes. At the time of Federation of Australia,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

had transferred jurisdiction over disputed returns to their Supreme Courts.

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

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 ...

had created hybrid tribunals.

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and New South Wales retained the exclusive jurisdiction to determine disputed returns for themselves. New South Wales gave the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction over disputed returns with the introduction of section 32 of the ''Parliamentary Electorates and Elections (Amendment) Act 1928''. The High Court of Australia sits as the Australian

Court of Disputed Returns The Court of Disputed Returns is a court, tribunal, or some other body that determines disputes about elections in some common law countries. The court may be known by another name such as the Court of Disputed Elections. In countries that derive ...

for federal elections. Prior to the enactment of the ''Electoral and Referendum Amendment Act (No 1)'' 2001, which commenced on 16 July 2001, the High Court could refer federal electoral disputes to the Supreme Court of a state. (1997) 20(2)

University of New South Wales Law Journal The Faculty of Law and Justice of the University of New South Wales is a law school situated in Sydney, Australia. It is widely regarded as one of Australia's top law schools. The 2021 QS World University Rankings rank the UNSW Law Faculty 13t ...

257.

References

{{reflist New South Wales courts and tribunals 1912 establishments in Australia

The petition

History

See also

References