Australian Court Hierarchy Essay

Having a court hierarchy in Australia’s legal system contributes to a great extent in achieving justice. The existence of a court hierarchy provides a structured format, dividing different types of courts with different jurisdictions to deal with their specialised category of cases. Without the existence of the court hierarchy, the Australian legal system would struggle immensely to operate as effectively and efficiently as they presently do to achieve justice in the Australian legal system. Justice is explored through two principles, fairness and equity, which both represent impartiality in the law which is essential for due process.

To begin, the effectiveness of the court hierarchy in Australia is judged by what degree it achieves justice in regards to fairness and equity. This is exemplified through the concept of judicial precedent. There needs to be an organized system to which the doctrine of precedent can apply. If there was no court hierarchy, all courts regardless of their status, were able to set precedent, the doctrine of precedent would become nonsense as previous minor offenses would have power over the decisions of major criminal cases. With the existence of a court hierarchy in the Australian legal system, all courts are strictly bound to follow decisions made by the courts above them in the hierarchy. Precedent provides fairness in the Australian legal system as it ensures consistency and fairness amongst …show more content…
In theory, it sounds good to enforce consistency in the law however in practice, especially when the individual doesn’t have access to a lawyer, and this would be extremely difficult and time consuming to research and find the law themselves. Consequently, the law is too challenging and inaccessible for individuals to understand. This affects the degree of fairness that precedent applies to achieving justice in the Australian legal