The Federal Magistrates Court (also known as the Federal Magistrates Service or the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia[1]) is an Australian court established by the Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (Cth), although its first officers were not appointed until 2000. The court was created to deal with the increasing workload of the Federal Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia, by hearing less complex cases for them and freeing them to deal only with more complex cases. The court now hears over 70% of applications filled in the federal courts. It is also intended to replace (in part) the federal jurisdiction with which state courts have been invested under the Judiciary Act 1903.
On 5 May 2009, the federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, announced the proposed abolition of the Federal Magistrates Court. All family law matters would revert to the Family Court while other matters would be heard in the Federal Court. No date has yet been given for this change.[2]
The Federal Magistrates Court was initially called the Federal Magistrates Service. As the court's jurisdiction has increased the name of the court has become less appropriate as a description of the court's work. The Federal Magistrates Court now exercises a jurisdiction far greater than that of the state magistrates courts and similar to that of the state district and county courts in Australia.
There are now over 60 Federal Magistrates in Australia. The first Chief Federal Magistrate, Diana Bryant left the court in 2004 when she was appointed the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, the third person to be appointed that position since the establishment of the Family Court. The current Chief Federal Magistrate is John Pascoe AO. The current members of the court come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including barristers, solicitors, academic lawyers, and legal aid and public service lawyers.
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List of Federal Magistrates
The Federal Magistrates of the court are[3]:
- Chief Federal Magistrate John Pascoe AO - Sydney (appointed 14 July 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Warren Donald - Parramatta (appointed 13 June 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Christine Mead - Adelaide (appointed 13 June 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Michael Baumann - Brisbane (appointed 19 June 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Jim Brewster - Canberra (appointed 19 June 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Norah Hartnett - Melbourne (appointed 19 June 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Stephen Scarlett - Sydney (appointed 19 June 2000)
- Federal Magistrate John Coker - Townsville (appointed 26 June 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Rolf Driver - Sydney (appointed 31 July 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Kenneth Raphael - Sydney (appointed 31 July 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Stuart Roberts - Launceston (appointed 4 December 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Maurice Phipps - Melbourne (appointed 18 December 2000)
- Federal Magistrate Michael Connolly - Melbourne (appointed 4 June 2001)
- Federal Magistrate John Walters - Melbourne (appointed 29 October 2001)
- Federal Magistrate Stewart Brown - Adelaide (appointed 5 November 2001)
- Federal Magistrate Shenagh Barnes - Sydney (appointed 5 November 2001)
- Federal Magistrate Giles Coakes - Newcastle (appointed 12 January 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Stuart Lindsay - Adelaide (appointed 19 January 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Michael Jarrett - Brisbane (appointed 2 February 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Sylvia Emmett - Sydney (appointed 5 July 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Grant Riethmuller - Melbourne (appointed 19 July 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Michael Lloyd-Jones - Sydney (appointed 26 July 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Daniel O'Dwyer - Melbourne (appointed 2 August 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Matthew Smith - Sydney (appointed 2 August 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Nick Nicholls - Sydney (appointed 23 August 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Robyn Sexton - Sydney (appointed 27 September 2004)
- Federal Magistrate Kevin Lapthorn - Newcastle (appointed 29 August 2005)
- Federal Magistrate Keith Slack - Brisbane (appointed 12 September 2005)
- Federal Magistrate Louise Henderson - Parramatta (appointed 28 November 2005)
- Federal Magistrate Kate Hughes - Melbourne (appointed 30 January 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Heather Riley - Melbourne (appointed 3 July 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Philip Burchardt - Melbourne (appointed 10 July 2006)
- Federal Magistrate John O'Sullivan - Melbourne (appointed 10 July 2006)
- Federal Magistrate David Halligan - Parramatta (appointed 31 July 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Toni Lucev - Perth (appointed 14 August 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Keith Wilson - Brisbane (appointed 14 August 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Frank Turner - Melbourne (appointed 3 October 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Robert Cameron - Sydney (appointed 3 October 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Tom Altobelli - Sydney (appointed 13 November 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Michael Burnett - Brisbane (appointed 24 November 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Stephen Coates - Brisbane (appointed 27 November 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Leanne Spelleken - Brisbane (appointed 11 December 2006)
- Federal Magistrate Charlotte Kelly - Adelaide (appointed 12 March 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Janet Terry - Darwin (appointed 10 April 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Denys Simpson - Adelaide (appointed 12 June 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Warwick Neville - Canberra (appointed 2 July 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Dale Kemp - Sydney (appointed 4 July 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Paul Howard - Brisbane (appointed 9 July 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Susan Purdon-Sully - Brisbane (appointed 15 October 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Margaret Cassidy - Brisbane (appointed 5 November 2007)
- Federal Magistrate Evelyn Bender - Melbourne (appointed 15 September 2008)
- Federal Magistrate Anne Demack – Brisbane (appointed 22 September 2008)
- Federal Magistrate Judith Walker – Sydney (appointed 22 September 2008)
- Federal Magistrate Terry McGuire – Melbourne (appointed 6 October 2008)
- Federal Magistrate David Dunkley – Sydney (appointed 13 October 2008)
- Federal Magistrate Barbara Baker – Hobart (appointed 27 October 2008)
- Federal Magistrate Geoffrey Monahan – Melbourne (appointed 3 November 2008)
- Federal Magistrate Peter Cole – Adelaide (appointed 24 November 2008)
- Federal Magistrate Josephine Willis – Cairns (appointed 27 January 2009)
Federal Magistrates are assisted by Associates and Deputy Associates, many of whom are qualified lawyers.
The court sits permanently in each state capital, although in Perth it only hears general federal law matters as the Family Court of Western Australia has sole jurisdiction over family law in that state. The court also sits permanently in the major regional centres of Launceston, Cairns, Townsville, Parramatta and Newcastle and circuits to a large number of regional cities regularly to hear family law cases. The court hears some applications and evidence by telephone or video evidence when parties or witnesses live a long way from the court.
In keeping with the requirement in sec 3 of the Federal Magistrates Act that the court act 'as informally as possible in the exercise of judicial power' barristers are not required to robe when appearing before the court. The court also has simpler rules than the Family Court or the Federal Court.
Jurisdiction
Bankruptcy, migration and family law comprise the largest components of the Court's work.[1]
Administrative law
The Court has original jurisdiction under the Administrative Decisions Judicial Review Act. The Court, on remittal from the Federal Court, hears appeals from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Bankruptcy
The vast majority of bankruptcy matters are heard by the Court (92% in 2004-5)[2].
Copyright
The Court may hear civil actions, with broad powers including unlimited damages, under the Copyright Act 1968 for:
- general copyright infringements;
- moral rights infringements;
- performers' rights.
Family law
The largest component of the Court's workload comprises family law matters. It hears almost all divorce applications,[3] and also deals with:
- spousal maintenance;
- property division;
- parenting orders, including contact, residence and maintenance; and
- determination of parentage;
- location and recovery orders and warrants for the apprehension or detention of children; and
- enforcement of orders made by the Court and the Family Court.
There is no monetary limit on the jurisdiciton of the FMC in Family Law.
Migration
Reform in 2005 limited first instance jurisdiction to the Federal Magistrates Court and the High Court to review administrative decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, the Refugee Review Tribunal and the Migration Review Tribunal.
Trade practices
In this area, the Court may determine claims, awarding a maximum of $750,000 in damages [4], in relation to:
- unfair trade practices;
- product safety and information matters;
- consumer protection matters;
- pyramid selling; and
- importation and manufacture of defective goods.
Unlawful discrimination
The Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Court of Australia to hear and determine complaints of unlawful discrimination based on sex, age, race and disability. Its power to grant relief is wide - it may, for example, grant unlimited damages.
Other areas
The court also has jurisdiction over admiralty, workplace relations and privacy matters.
References
- ^ Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (Cth) s 8.
- ^ "Federal Magistrates Court to be scrapped". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 May, 2009. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/05/2561347.htm?section=justin. Retrieved 7 May, 2009.
- ^ current members of the court
- ^ History of Events of the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia
External links
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