Bills Digest no. 3 1976
Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court Amendment Bill
1976
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Implications
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
8 Bills
related to the Federal Court of Australia Bill, 1976
Conciliation
and Arbitration Amendment Bill (No. 3) 1976.
Bankruptcy
Amendment Bill 1976
Australian
Capital Territory Supreme Court Amendment Bill
1976
Northern
Territory Supreme Court Amendment Bill
1976
Federal
Court of Australia (Consequential
Provisions) Bill 1976
Income
Tax Assessment Amendment (Jurisdiction of Courts) Bill
1976
Patents
Amendment Bill 1976
Trade
Marks Amendment Bill 1976
Date introduced: 3 November 1976
House: House of Representatives
Short Digest of Bills
The
purpose of the Bills:
To amend the Principal
Act of each of the proposed amending Acts respectively and also 11 Acts
that confer specific jurisdiction on the Australian Industrial Court pursuant
to the Government’s policy with respect to the proposed establishment
of the Federal Court of Australia.
Summary: 1. Three of the said Bills, the
Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Bill
(No. 3), the Bankruptcy Amendment Bill, the Federal Court
of Australia (Consequential
Provisions) Bill would provide
for the transfer to the proposed Federal Court of Australia of the jurisdiction
presently exercised by the Australian Industrial Court and the Federal
Court of Bankruptcy. Each of these two Courts would continue until a time
when there are no judges left on the Court, then be abolished on the making
of proclamations to that effect, and any pending proceedings in those
courts would be transferred to the Federal Court of Australia.
Each of these three amending Acts would commence on
a date not earlier than the commencing day for the purposes of the Federal
Court of Australia Act, 1976. From that date (1) all proceedings which
may now be instituted in the Australian Industrial Court or in the Federal
Court of Bankruptcy would be instituted in the Federal Court of Australia
and (2) all proceedings already instituted in either court but the hearing
of which had not commenced would be transferred to the Federal Court of
Australia. (3) Part heard proceedings in either court would continue in
those courts.
The Federal Court of Australia in its Industrial Division
when exercising its jurisdiction under the Conciliation and Arbitration
Act would be constituted in the same way as the Australian Industrial
Court is now constituted; i.e. by a single judge or as a Full Court constituted
by three or more judges.
The appellate provisions would also remain unaltered,
i.e. where at present no appeal lies under the Conciliation and Arbitration
Act from a decision of the Australian Industrial Court likewise no appeal
would lie from a decision of the Federal Court of Australia. In other
cases where an appeal now lies from the Australian Industrial Court to
the High Court by leave of the High Court an appeal would lie from the
Federal Court of Australia to the High Court.
As well as its jurisdiction under the Conciliation
and Arbitration Act the Australian Industrial Court also has jurisdiction
under 11 other Acts. (The Court has industrial jurisdiction under the
Conciliation and Arbitration Act and the Stevedoring Industry Act, and
general jurisdiction under 10 other Acts). The Federal Court of Australia
(Consequential Provisions) Bill would transfer
this jurisdiction under the 11 Acts to the Federal Court of Australia
other than cases part heard on the date of transfer of the jurisdiction.
2. The Patents Amendment Bill
and the Trade Marks Amendment Bill:
(1) would vest the original jurisdiction of the High
Court (except for the operation of section 75 of the Constitution) with
respect to patents and trade mark matters in State Supreme Courts and
the Supreme Courts of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern
Territory respectively;(1) (2) confer additional appellate
jurisdiction on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in primarily administrative
matters in lieu of the present appellate provisions to the High Court
in these matters (3) provide for proceedings to be transferred from one
Supreme Court to another on application of a party.
3. The Income Tax Assessment Amendment (Jurisdiction
of Courts) Bill: would provide
(1) that appeals lie to the full Court of the Federal Court of Australia
from decisions of single judges of State Supreme Courts on appeals from
a Taxation Board of Review and the Commissioner of Taxation under the
Income Tax Assessment Act. (2) such appeals would be exclusive of any
right of appeal that otherwise exists to the full court of the State Supreme
Courts. (3) appeals would be direct to the High Court under the Income
Tax Assessment Act by special leave of the High Court (4) a taxation appeal
would be transferred from one Supreme Court to another on application
of a party (5) the High Court would be divested of its present original
jurisdiction to hear taxation prosecutions under the Income Tax Assessment
Act and original jurisdiction in these prosecutions would be confined
to State and Territory courts. (6) The amount of penalty in issue that
entitles a defendant to elect for trial in a Supreme Court would be increased
from $200 to $500.
4. Appeals would also lie to the Full Court of the
Federal Court of Australia from State courts (other than the full courts
of State Supreme Courts) exercising (1) bankruptcy jurisdiction and (2)
jurisdiction under the Patents and Trade Marks Acts.
5. The Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court
Amendment Bill and the Northern Territory Supreme Court Amendment
Bill would (1) establish an office of chief judge in each of these
courts respectively, and (2) the latter Bill would enable the appointment
of a fourth resident judge of the Northern Territory Supreme Court.
Implications:
The proposed amendments will confer additional federal
jurisdiction on State Courts and divest the High Court of part of its
work-load in both its original and appellate jurisdiction.
The status of the Supreme Courts of the Australian
Capital Territory and the Northern Territory will increase. The special
provisions under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act with respect to
appeals will override the appellate provisions in the proposed Federal
Court of Australia Act. The Federal Court of Australia will ordinarily
exercise its bankruptcy jurisdiction only in New South Wales, Victoria
and the Australian Capital Territory. The other State courts and the Northern
Territory Supreme Court will continue to exercise bankruptcy jurisdiction.
The convenience of parties will be better served by provisions for transfer
of matters from one Supreme Court to another under proposed amendments
to Patents, Trade Marks and Income Tax Assessment Acts respectively.
The Federal Court of Australia under its proposed
appellate jurisdiction from State courts (other than the full courts of
State Supreme Courts) and the restrictive appellate provisions to the
High Court will be the authority in the specific matters within its jurisdiction
which should result in uniformity of interpretation of the law in these
matters. Further legislation may be expected to amend other Commonwealth
Acts under which the High Court is vested with original and appellate
jurisdiction in order to transfer this jurisdiction to State and Territory
Supreme Courts and to provide further for appeals to the Federal Court
of Australia. Relevant Commonwealth Acts will be amended to bring them
into conformity with the proposals concerning the jurisdiction of courts
in the Income Tax Assessment (Jurisdiction of Courts) Bill
1976.
The convenience of Territory residents will benefit
from proposals that Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory
Supreme Courts have (1) original jurisdiction under the Patents and Trade
Marks Acts and (2) appellate jurisdiction under the Income Tax Assessment
Act.(2)
Endnotes
- The A.C.T. and N.T. Supreme Courts would have jurisdiction only in
respect of proceedings instituted by Territory residents or companies
having their principal place of business in the Territory.
- The A.C.T. and N.T. Supreme Courts would have jurisdiction only where
the taxpayer concerned is a Territory resident, or if a company, has
its principal place of business in a Territory.
K.I. Inglis
4 November 1976
Bills Digest Service
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ISSN 1328-8091
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