County Court

The County Court is the major trial court in Victoria.

The Court deals with civil and criminal cases.

The civil jurisdictionThe ‘jurisdiction’ of a court is the authority of that court or tribunal to hear certain matters brought before it. This is based on factors such as the area or law, the amount of money claimed, or the geographic area. More is divided into Commercial Law and Common LawThe part of English law traditionally based on common custom and being unwritten. Law which is not equity (q.v.), statute (q.v.), ecclesiastical (church), or civil (i.e. Roman). More.

It has original jurisdiction‘Original jurisdiction’ gives a court authority to hear a case first.  This means that if you have a legal issue and you want to take it to court, your first attempt must be at the court with ‘Original Jurisdiction’ over the issue. Note: ‘Original jurisdiction’ can also be called ‘first instance jurisdiction.’ More over:

• Civil cases with claims over $100,00 but under $200,00
• More serious criminal offences (indictable offences); such as serious assault, drug traffickingIn common law, movement from source to end user in the course of trade. Drug trafficking has a much wider definition. More, armed robbery and sexual offences
• Breaches of conditions of a community-based sentence
• Decisions about post-sentence supervision and detention

For more information see:

• Country Court of Victoria 
• County Court Act 1958 (Vic)
• Appealing a County Court decision