Federal Court's New National Framework Announced
Monday 1 December 2014 @ 1.21 p.m. | Legal Research
A new national structure for the Federal Court of Australia has been proposed by its Chief Justice, Justice James Allsop.
History to Existing Structure
The Federal Court of Australia was created by the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) and began to exercise its jurisdiction on 1 February 1977. The Court is a superior court of record and a court of law and equity. It sits in all capital cities and elsewhere in Australia from time to time.
The Court’s original jurisdiction is conferred by over 150 statutes of the Parliament. The Court has a substantial and diverse appellate jurisdiction. When created the Court’s jurisdiction comprised that formerly exercised in part by the High Court of Australia and the whole of the Australian Industrial Court and the Federal Court of Bankruptcy.
It now hears appeals from decisions of single judges of the Court and from the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (previously the Federal Magistrates Court) in non-family law matters. The Court’s jurisdiction now covers almost all civil matters arising under Australian federal law and some summary and indictable criminal matters. It also has jurisdiction to hear and determine any matter arising under the Constitution through the operation of s 39B of the Judiciary Act 1903. The Court also exercises general appellate jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters on appeal from the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island.
Historical Issues to Federal Court Operation
As pointed out by Dominique Hogan-Doran:
"Historically, there has grown up a lack of cohesiveness and national character to the operation of the Court. The Court’s structure has been based on a state geography, with the business of the Court allocated between different state and territory registries. Each registry takes a different approach to allocation of panels of judges to particular areas, and other procedures.
Specialisation is also a challenge for the Court. There has been an apprehension that parties are being obliged to pay for the education of a (skilled and otherwise experienced) judge to a sufficient level of functional skill and knowledge to determine unfamiliar issues in a specialist area of law."
New National Framework
According to the Federal Court Practice Alert, the new national framework is designed to cater for a degree of specialisation by judges, with judges allocated to particular practice areas on a national basis.
The new 8 practice areas would be:
- Administrative, Constitutional Law & Human Rights
- Native Title
- Commercial and Company
- Taxation
- Intellectual Property
- Industrial Relations and Labour
- Admiralty and Maritime
- Criminal Cartel Trials
The national practice sub-areas would include:
Intellectual Property
- Patents and associated statutes
- Trademarks
- Copyright and industrial design
Commercial and company
- Commercial
- Company
- Insolvency, corporate and personal bankruptcy
- Regulator and consumer protection
- Competition (anti-trust and access)
- International commercial arbitration
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