COURTS

A hierarchy of courts and tribunals operate within each state and territory, with the High Court being the highest court in the Australian judicial system (diagram 13.10).

The majority of courts handle matters that are criminal or civil in nature, while tribunals provide a less costly alternative for progressing some civil and administrative matters outside the formality of a court. A criminal matter generally arises where a charge has been laid either by police or some other prosecuting authority on the basis of a breach of criminal law. A civil matter occurs where there is a dispute between two or more individuals or organisations, where one party seeks legal remedy for an injury or loss from the other party, which is alleged to be liable.

The majority of less serious matters are heard before magistrates and more serious matters are heard before judges. For criminal matters, the seriousness is often determined by the nature of the alleged offence. In a civil context, seriousness is generally determined according to the compensation being sought. A court or tribunal's ability to deal with a civil, criminal or other matter will depend on the state or territory's legislation or jurisdiction applicable to that particular level of court.

The hierarchy of courts also applies to appeal matters. Where grounds for appeal exist, the appeal process is available in both criminal and civil matters. Appeals resulting from civil tribunal decisions may be referred to the Magistrates', District/County, Supreme or Commonwealth Courts, depending on the jurisdiction and the rights of appeal. Criminal appeals resulting from the Magistrates' Court can be appealed at the District/County, Supreme or Commonwealth Court level in the first instance. The High Court of Australia is the highest court of appeal for both criminal and civil cases.

CRIMINAL COURTS

A system of courts for the hearing of criminal matters exists in all Australian states and territories. Once charges are laid by police, the court will hear evidence from both prosecution and defence, and will make a decision as to whether or not the defendant is guilty. In cases where the defendant is found guilty, the court may also record a conviction and impose a penalty.

All states and territories have a Supreme Court that can deal with any criminal matter. The larger jurisdictions also have an intermediate level of court, known as the District or County Court, which deals with the majority of serious offences. The Supreme Courts and Intermediate Courts are collectively referred to as the Higher Courts. All defendants that are dealt with by the Higher Courts have an automatic entitlement to a trial before a judge and jury. In some jurisdictions, the defendant may elect to have the matter heard before a judge alone. Offences that must be heard before a judge and jury are known as indictable offences. These include offences such as murder, manslaughter and drug importation as well as serious sexual offences, robberies and assaults.

The lowest level of criminal court is the Magistrates' Court, also known as the Court of Summary Jurisdiction, Local Court or Court of Petty Sessions. The majority of criminal cases are heard in these courts. Cases heard in Magistrates' Courts do not involve a jury, and a magistrate determines the guilt or innocence of the defendant. This is known as a summary proceeding. More serious offences are dealt with by the higher court levels.

Each state and territory also has a Children's Court to deal with offences alleged to have been committed by children or juveniles. In all states and territories, children under 10 years of age cannot be charged with a criminal offence. The maximum age that defendants are considered to be a child or juvenile is under the age of 18 years at the time an offence was committed in all states and territories, except in Queensland. Defendants in Queensland are deemed an adult at 17 years of age or over at the time an offence was committed. In the main, these courts deal with summary proceedings. However, in some jurisdictions they have the power to also hear indictable matters.

A defendant proven guilty in a criminal matter is entitled to appeal against the conviction or against the severity of the penalty imposed. Under some circumstances, the prosecution is also entitled to appeal against the leniency of the penalty. The states and territories differ in the way in which they manage appeals. Some appeals from Magistrates' Courts may be heard before the Intermediate Courts. In other jurisdictions, the Supreme Court may hear these appeals. In most jurisdictions, an appeal court or Court of Criminal Appeal may be constituted to hear appeals from the Supreme or Intermediate Courts, with the highest court of appeal for all jurisdictions being the High Court of Australia.


NATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS STATISTICS

The ABS Criminal Courts Collection produces national statistics about defendants dealt with by the criminal jurisdictions of the Higher (Supreme and Intermediate), Magistrates' and Children's Courts of Australia for a financial year. The statistics provide a profile of the characteristics of finalised defendants, as well as data about the offences for which they have been charged, their guilt or innocence, and sentence outcomes for those proven guilty.


CRIMINAL COURTS DEFENDANT SUMMARY CHARACTERISTICS

Diagram 13.11 presents summary characteristics of defendants dealt with by the Higher, Magistrates' and Children's Courts of Australia. 'Finalised defendant' refers to all charges against a person or organisation having been formally completed so that the defendant ceases to be an item of work to be dealt with by a particular court.

In 2009–10, there were 661,713 defendants finalised in the Higher, Magistrates' and Children's Courts. The total comprised: 91% or 603,604 finalised defendants in the Magistrates' Courts; 6% or 41,275 defendants in the Children's Courts; and 3% or 16,834 defendants in the Higher Courts.

Of those defendants finalised in the Higher Courts, 86% (14,409 defendants) were adjudicated, meaning that the court made a determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence of the offence(s) with which they were charged. The remaining 14% (2,425 defendants) were finalised by non-adjudicated methods, in which there is no determination of the charges by the court. This includes outcomes such as all charges being withdrawn by the prosecution.

In the Magistrates' Courts, 90% (545,658 finalised defendants) were adjudicated, while 7% (44,798 defendants) were finalised by non-adjudicated methods.

In the Children's Courts, 81% (33,469 finalised defendants) were adjudicated and 15% (6,254 defendants) were finalised by non-adjudicated methods.




HIGHER COURTS

Adjudicated defendants – principal offence

An adjudicated defendant is either a person or an organisation finalised via a guilty plea or a decision by the court as to their guilt or innocence of the final charges laid. Defendants can also be finalised by non-adjudicated methods such as transfer to other court levels or withdrawal by the prosecution.

In 2009–10, defendants were adjudicated in the Higher Courts for principal offences that fall within the following divisions of the Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC 2008): Acts intended to cause injury (22%); Illicit drug offences (20%); Sexual assault (16%); Robbery and extortion (11%); and Unlawful entry with intent (8%). Over three-quarters of defendants adjudicated (77% or 11,145 defendants) by the Higher Courts had a principal offence in one of these five categories (table 13.12).

Nationally, 92% (13,193) of adjudicated defendants were found guilty or pleaded guilty in the Higher Courts, while 8% (1,216) were acquitted.

Defendants were most likely to be acquitted for the principal offences of Sexual assault (24%) and Homicide (19%).

All defendants charged with Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences (100%) and almost all defendants charged with Illicit drug offences (99%), Unlawful entry with intent and Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences (both 96%) were proven guilty in the Higher Courts during 2009–10 (table 13.12).

13.12 DEFENDANTS ADJUDICATED IN HIGHER COURTS, Principal offence—2009–10
ASOC Division(a)	Acquitted	Guilty finding by court	Guilty plea by defendant	Total(b)	Total adjudicated
Homicide and related offences	85	121	231	367	452
Acts intended to cause injury	291	298	2 556	2 879	3 170
Sexual assault and related offences	557	349	1 390	1 746	2 303
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons	18	44	403	454	472
Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person	20	23	212	237	257
Robbery, extortion and related offences	57	123	1 448	1 584	1 641
Unlawful entry with intent	45	53	1 092	1 159	1 204
Theft and related offences	10	20	342	364	374
Fraud, deception and related offences	25	41	584	631	656
Illicit drug offences	42	224	2 540	2 785	2 827
Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences	7	13	162	177	184
Property damage and environmental pollution	26	23	249	276	302
Public order offences	8	3	93	96	104
Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences	—	—	18	18	18
Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations	19	40	303	346	365
Miscellaneous offences	6	9	64	74	80
Total(c)	1 216	1 384	11 697	13 193	14 409
— nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Classified according to Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) 2008 (1234.0).
(b) Total proven guilty, includes defendants with charges proven, not further defined.
(c) Includes defendants for which offence data are missing or a principal offence could not be determined.
Source: Criminal Courts, Australia (4513.0).

In the Higher Courts, the most prevalent principal offences for both male and female adjudicated defendants were Acts intended to cause injury (22% of males and females) and Illicit drugs (19% of males and 25% of females). Proportionally more females were adjudicated for the principal offence of Fraud and deception (15%) than were males (3%). In contrast, there were proportionally more males than females with a principal offence of Sexual assault (18% and 2% respectively) (graph 13.13).




Defendants proven guilty – principal sentence

Of the defendants proven guilty in the Higher Courts, 85% received custodial orders (i.e. custody in a correctional institution or the community or fully suspended sentences) (table 13.14).

Defendants proven guilty in the Higher Courts for Homicide, Robbery and extortion, and Sexual assault incurred the highest proportion of custodial orders (98%, 92% and 90% respectively). Defendants proven guilty for Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences and Public order offences incurred the highest proportion of non-custodial sentences (63% and 59% respectively).

13.14 DEFENDANTS PROVEN GUILTY IN HIGHER COURTS(a), Principal offence and sentence—2009–10
ASOC Division(b)	Custodial orders	Non-custodial orders	Total(c)
Homicide and related offences	361	6	367
Acts intended to cause injury	2 451	426	2 877
Sexual assault and related offences	1 571	174	1 745
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons	347	107	454
Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person	179	58	237
Robbery, extortion and related offences	1 466	119	1 585
Unlawful entry with intent	933	226	1 159
Theft and related offences	253	111	364
Fraud, deception and related offences	555	76	631
Illicit drug offences	2 379	406	2 785
Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences	142	35	177
Property damage and environmental pollution	190	87	277
Public order offences	40	57	97
Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences	7	12	19
Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations	272	74	346
Miscellaneous offences	36	37	73
All offence categories(d)	11 182	2 011	13 193
(a) Includes organisations; includes defendants with unknown age and/or sex.
(b) Classified according to Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) 2008 (1234.0).
(c) Includes defendants for which a principal sentence is unknown.
(d) Includes defendants for which offence data are missing or a principal offence could not be determined.
Source: Criminal Courts, Australia (4513.0).

MAGISTRATES' COURTS

Adjudicated defendants – principal offence

Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences accounted for the greatest proportion (44% or 240,891) of defendants adjudicated in the Magistrates' Courts in 2009–10. After Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences, the largest proportion of defendants were charged with Public order offences (11%), Acts intended to cause injury (9%), Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons (7%), Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations, and Theft (both 6%).

Nationally, 96% (525,274) of adjudicated defendants were proven guilty in the Magistrates' Courts, while 4% (20,383) were acquitted.

Defendants adjudicated in the Magistrates' Courts were most likely to be acquitted for Homicide (28%), Robbery and extortion (18%) and Sexual assault (16%).

The principal offences with the highest proportion of defendants proven guilty in the Magistrates' Courts were Illicit drug offences (99%), Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences (99%) and Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons (98%) (table 13.15).

13.15 DEFENDANTS ADJUDICATED IN MAGISTRATES' COURTS, Principal offence—2009–10
ASOC Division(a)	Acquitted	Proven guilty	Total adjudicated
Homicide and related offences	24	62	86
Acts intended to cause injury	4 465	43 330	47 795
Sexual assault and related offences	202	1 096	1 298
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons	562	36 335	36 897
Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person	109	2 125	2 234
Robbery, extortion and related offences	41	181	222
Unlawful entry with intent	234	6 584	6 818
Theft and related offences	1 061	33 681	34 742
Fraud, deception and related offences	319	12 838	13 157
Illicit drug offences	341	32 127	32 468
Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences	94	7 220	7 314
Property damage and environmental pollution	466	13 597	14 063
Public order offences	6 616	55 216	61 832
Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences	4 392	236 499	240 891
Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations	1 070	33 751	34 821
Miscellaneous offences	354	10 494	10 848
Total(b)	20 383	525 274	545 657
(a) Classified according to Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) 2008 (1234.0).
(b) Includes defendants for which offence data are missing or a principal offence could not be determined.
Source: Criminal Courts, Australia (4513.0).

In the Magistrates' Courts, Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences accounted for 43% of adjudicated male defendants and half (50%) of all female adjudicated defendants (graph 13.16). Public order offences accounted for 12% of male and 8% of female adjudicated defendants, while Acts intended to cause injury accounted for 9% of male and 7% of female adjudicated defendants. Theft and Fraud and deception offences both had higher proportions of female adjudicated defendants than male adjudicated defendants. Theft offences comprised 8% of female and 5% of male adjudicated defendants, while Fraud and deception offences comprised 5% of female and 2% of male adjudicated defendants.



Defendants proven guilty – principal sentence

In 2009–10, defendants proven guilty in the Magistrates’ Courts predominantly received non-custodial orders (e.g. community supervision, monetary orders, good behaviour bonds) (91%). The exception was for Robbery and extortion, where 63% of defendants proven guilty received a custodial sentence (table 13.17).

13.17 DEFENDANTS PROVEN GUILTY IN MAGISTRATES' COURTS(a), Principal offence and sentence—2009–10
ASOC Division(b)	Custodial orders	Non-custodial orders	Total(c)
Homicide and related offences	17	43	62
Acts intended to cause injury	11 967	31 296	43 330
Sexual assault and related offences	487	589	1 096
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons	3 777	32 537	36 335
Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person	426	1 697	2 125
Robbery, extortion and related offences	116	56	184
Unlawful entry with intent	3 115	3 425	6 584
Theft and related offences	4 359	29 246	33,681
Fraud, deception and related offences	2 981	9 831	12 838
Illicit drug offences	2 499	29 588	32 127
Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences	881	6 325	7 220
Property damage and environmental pollution	1 016	12 554	13 597
Public order offences	1 069	54 109	55 216
Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences	10 662	225 711	236 499
Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations	2 886	30 799	33 751
Miscellaneous offences	180	10 296	10 494
All offence categories(d)	46 445	478 210	525 275
(a) Includes organisations; includes defendants with unknown age and/or sex.
(b) Classified according to Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) 2008 (1234.0).
(c) Includes defendants for which a principal sentence is unknown.
(d) Includes defendants for which offence data are missing or a principal offence could not be determined.
Source: Criminal Courts, Australia (4513.0).

CHILDREN'S COURTS

Adjudicated defendants – principal offence

The main offences that defendants were adjudicated for in the Children's Courts during 2009–10 were Theft (20%); Acts intended to cause injury (19%); Unlawful entry with intent (13%); Traffic and vehicle regulatory (11%) and Public order offences (10%).

Nationally, 96% (31,991) of adjudicated defendants were proven guilty in the Children's Courts and 4% (1,479) were acquitted.

Higher proportions of acquittals occurred for defendants charged with Homicide (21%), Miscellaneous offences (13%) and Sexual assault (12%).

The principal offences with the highest proportion of defendants proven guilty were Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons and Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences (both 99%), Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences (98%), Fraud and deception and Illicit drug offences (both 97%) (table 13.18).

13.18 DEFENDANTS ADJUDICATED IN CHILDREN'S COURTS, Principal offence—2009–10
ASOC Division(a)	Acquitted	Proven guilty	Total adjudicated
Homicide and related offences	3	11	14
Acts intended to cause injury	406	6 047	6 453
Sexual assault and related offences	44	310	354
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons	21	1 698	1 719
Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person	19	219	238
Robbery, extortion and related offences	79	1 188	1 267
Unlawful entry with intent	136	4 141	4 277
Theft and related offences	266	6 320	6 586
Fraud, deception and related offences	10	323	333
Illicit drug offences	22	799	821
Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences	13	522	535
Property damage and environmental pollution	124	2 460	2 584
Public order offences	209	3 219	3 428
Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences	39	3 488	3 527
Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations	47	923	970
Miscellaneous offences	41	279	320
Total(b)	1 479	31 991	33 470
(a) Classified according to Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) 2008 (1234.0).
(b) Includes defendants for whom offence data are missing or a principal offence could not be determined.
Source: Criminal Courts, Australia (4513.0).

There was variation for some offence types in the proportion of male and female defendants adjudicated in the Children's Courts (graph 13.19). Adjudicated males had higher proportions than adjudicated females for the following offences: Unlawful entry with intent (15% of males, 6% of females), Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons (6% of males, 2% of females) and Traffic offences (11% of males, 10% of females).

Proportionally, there were more female defendants charged for the following offences than male defendants: Acts intended to cause injury (25% of adjudicated females, 18% of males) and Theft offences (29% of adjudicated females, 17% of males) (graph 13.19).




Defendants proven guilty – principal sentence

In 2009–10, defendants proven guilty in the Children’s Courts predominantly received non-custodial orders (e.g. community supervision, monetary orders, good behaviour bonds). The offences with the highest proportion of custodial orders were Robbery (34%) and Homicide (33%) (table 13.20).

13.20 DEFENDANTS PROVEN GUILTY IN CHILDREN'S COURTS(a), Principal offence and sentence—2009–10
ASOC Division(b)	Custodial orders	Non-custodial orders	Total(c)
Homicide and related offences	3	6	9
Acts intended to cause injury	1 051	4 975	6 047
Sexual assault and related offences	68	222	310
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons	186	1,510	1 696
Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person	42	177	219
Robbery, extortion and related offences	401	785	1 189
Unlawful entry with intent	699	3,434	4 141
Theft and related offences	267	6 022	6 320
Fraud, deception and related offences	15	308	323
Illicit drug offences	37	756	799
Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences	45	474	522
Property damage and environmental pollution	117	2 332	2 460
Public order offences	44	3 154	3 219
Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences	22	3 453	3 488
Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations	27	889	923
Miscellaneous offences	—	275	278
All offence categories(d)	3 032	28 805	31 987
— nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Includes defendants with unknown age and/or sex.
(b) Classified according to Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) 2008 (1234.0).
(c) Includes defendants for whom a principal sentence is unknown.
(d) Includes defendants for whom offence data are missing or a principal offence could not be determined.
Source: Criminal Courts, Australia (4513.0).