High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the highest authority in the Australian judicial system. It functions to interpret and apply the law of Australia.

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:

• Constitutional law
• Federal Law
• International law
• Migration Law
• Maritime Law
• Legal action against a member of parliament (MP)
• Legal action against the commonwealth or a person being sued on behalf of the commonwealth
• Matters relating to any government official, or other representative, of another country
• Issues between states; between residents of different states; or between a state and a resident of another state

For more information see:

• High Court of Australia
• Australian Constitution (ss75-76)
• Appealing a High Court decision