The primary role of a State court is to deal with State law. There are three tiers in the general court system in NSW : the first tier comprises the Local Court,1 the second or intermediate tier is the District Court 2 and the third or highest tier is comprised of the Supreme Court.3 There are other tribunals and courts in NSW that deal with special categories of disputes including the:

• Industrial Relations Commission 4
• Land and Environment Court 5
• Compensation Court 6
• Drug Court 7
• Children's Court 8
• Coroner's Court 9
• Dust Diseases Tribunal 10
• Administrative Decisions Tribunal 11
• Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal - formerly the Fair Trading Tribunal and the Residential Tribunal 12
• Victims Compensation Tribunal 13

The Local Court is the first tier in the State court hierarchy and is administered by the Attorney General's Department. Its jurisdiction encompasses the majority of criminal and summary prosecutions, civil matters with a monetary value up to $40,000 and a range of specialist functions, such as Children's Court (care proceedings and juvenile prosecutions), family law and coronial matters.

There are 160 Local Courts dealing with a wide range of legal matters both criminal and civil in nature. A magistrate is the presiding judicial officer of a Local Court and has legal qualifications but is not a judge.

DISTRICT COURT

The District Court is the next highest court after the Local Court. It is presided over by a judge. Most large population centres have a District Court sitting at least part of the year. District Court judges predominately come from the ranks of the legal profession, usually barristers, Some judges were solicitors or academics before their appointment to the Court.

In criminal trials, there will often be a jury of 12 people. While the jury decides on the accused's guilt or innocence, the judge controls proceedings and decides questions of law. The judge also passes down the sentence if the accused is found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

The civil jurisdiction of the District Court is limited to amounts that do not exceed $750,000. The Court also hears all motor vehicle cases, regardless of the amount claimed. The District Court can hear appeals from decisions of the Local Court and can overturn a magistrate's decision.
Click here to view a history of the District Court

SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court of New South Wales operates on two levels: a divisional level and an appellate level.

• The divisional level consists of ordinary judges of the Supreme Court.

  These are judges who deal with civil matters, for example, breach of contract, defamation or professional negligence, and criminal matters such as murder and manslaughter, attempted murder, major conspiracy and drug related charges, as well as other matters. They may sit alone or with a jury. The Court generally hears matters involving only the most serious criminal cases. In civil matters, due to the extreme legal costs, it generally only hears matters involving larger sums of money or title to land. The Supreme Court sits mainly in Sydney and sometimes in other large towns in the state.

• The appellate level consists of the Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal.

  The Court of Appeal hears appeals arising from civil matters from the District Court, Land and Environment Court, Compensation Court and some tribunals and appeals from single judges of the Supreme Court. In some cases the right of appeal is not automatic and a grant of leave may be required. It normally sits as a full court of three judges. In cases dealing with very important principles of law, a full bench of five or more judges will sit.

  The Court of Criminal Appeal deals exclusively with appeals rising from criminal trials. Appeals are normally heard by three judges or, in some sentence appeals where there is no issue of principle, two Judges. In some cases dealing with very important principles of law, a full bench of five or more judges will sit.

  The Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal can review questions of law and overturn findings of fact. They can also reduce or increase penalties or awards of damages or gaol sentences.

  The Australia Acts of 1986 abolished all appeals from Australian courts to the Privy Council in Britain. The ultimate court of appeal is now the High Court of Australia.

  Click here to view a history of the Supreme Court

The Land and Environment Court was established as a superior court of record, and it ranks equivalent to the Supreme Court in the hierarchy of courts in NSW.

• Established in 1980, the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales replaced the Local Government Appeals Tribunal, the Land and Valuation Court, the Clean Waters Appeal Board and the Valuation Boards of Review. In addition, certain areas of law formerly dealt with by the Supreme Court were transferred to the new court.
  
• The jurisdiction of the Land and Environment Court is divided into seven separate classes according to the nature of the proceedings before it. But it is fair to say, speaking more broadly, that the Court has three principal functions. It acts as an administrative tribunal, determining planning and building appeals on their merits. Secondly, it acts in a supervisory way, by hearing cases of civil enforcement of planning and environmental law and judicial review of administrative decisions in those fields. Thirdly, it has a summary criminal jurisdiction, involving prosecution and punishment for environmental offences. Furthermore, its jurisdiction in all these matters is exclusive - no other court in New South Wales can hear any of these matters.
  
  Another important feature of the Court's jurisdiction is that it is basically concerned with public law; that is, citizens enforcing their rights against governmental authorities, and government authorities enforcing the law against citizens. The Court is not generally concerned with private rights, that is, the claims of citizens against each other.
  

  Available here is a more detailed explanation about the Land and Environment Court.

Reference: Carvan, J, 1999, Understanding the Australian Legal System 1999, LBC Information Services, Australia

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Local Court 
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lc.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department 

District Court
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/dc.nsf/pages/dcfirst
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Supreme Court
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/sc/sc.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Industrial Relations Commission
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/ir.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Land and Environment Court
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/lec/lec.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Compensation Court
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/cc.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Drug Court
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/drugcrt/drugcrt.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Children's Court
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/ccc/ccc.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Coroner's Court
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/lc.nsf/pages/coronersindex
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Dust Diseases Tribunal
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/cc.nsf/pages/ddtindex
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Administrative Decisions Tribunal
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/adt.nsf/pages/index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal - formerly the Fair Trading Tribunal and the Residential Tribunal
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/secondarymenus/cttt.html
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department

Victim's Compensation Tribunal
http://www.agd.nsw.gov.au/vs/vs.nsf/pages/vs_index
Dated viewed 27 November 2002
Author: NSW Atorney-Gerneral's Department
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