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[UMA-SR-000000860] ACC 5 Standing Committee 'C' Files

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[UMA-SR-000000863] ACC 8 Judicature Sub-Committee Files

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IdentifierUMA-SR-000000863Extent21 filesScope and ContentThe Judicature Sub-Committee was appointed by the Standing Committee in 1983. This series relates to the work of the Judicature Sub-Committee, and includes material produced prior to the formation of the Sub-Committee. The matters considered by the Judicature Sub- Committee fell under four major headings.

Integrated Courts

The Standing Committee referred this matter to the Judicature Sub-Committee following the adoption of the resolution below at the ACC in Adelaide, 1983:

That this Convention recommends that the Constitution be amended to provide for Federal courts and State courts of Supreme Court level and above to be integrated into a single system of Australian courts with three distinct levels:

(a) a trial level;
(b) an appellate level; and
(c) the High Court as the final court of appeal.

That this proposal be referred to the Standing Committee of the Convention and that the Committee be empowered to co-opt additional persons with particular expertise in the field as full committee members.

That the committee be asked to recommend a model for an integrated system of Australian courts taking into account views expressed by the Convention in its committee reports and in plenary session, and views expressed to the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration.

That the committee should be asked further to recommend in what manner the proposal should be implemented.

The Standing Committee requested the Judicature Sub-Committee not to co-opt additional members but to consult with members of the judiciary and members of the legal profession.

After consultations with judges and the profession, the Judicature Sub-Committee prepared a preliminary report on this reference in mid-1984 and invited comments. Their revised Report to Standing Committee on an Integrated System of Courts, October 1984, was printed with the Proceedings of the Brisbane Convention, 1985. This was also known as the first report of the Sub-Committee.

The matter of integrated courts had formerly been discussed by Standing Committee D, and by the Judicature Committee (1975-77) and the Sub-Committee on Jurisdiction of Courts (1981-82), reporting to Standing Committee D. The new Judicature Sub-Committee drew upon some of the work of these earlier committees.

Family Law

The following resolution of the Adelaide Convention was also referred by the Standing Committee to the Judicature Sub-Committee:

That the Standing Committee consider and report to the next plenary session upon the proposal that the Constitution be amended to enable the Parliament of the Commonwealth to legislate with respect to -

(a) the custody and guardianship of children, but not so as to detract from the powers of the States to legislate with respect to the protection and welfare of children;
(b) the maintenance of children, and the payment of expenses in relation to children and child bearing; and
(c) rights and liabilities in relation to property, being rights and liabilities of husbands and wives arising out of the marital relationship.

The Judicature Sub-Committee made family law the subject of Chapter 2 of their Second Report to Standing Committee, May 1985. The Sub-Committee sought an opinion from Professor James Crawford, which was printed as Appendix A to the Second Report.

Family law matters had previously been considered by Standing Committee C. These matters were also under consideration outside the ACC by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General.

Appointment of High Court Justices

At its meeting on 13 July 1983, the Standing Committee considered motions listed for discussion from the Attorney-General of Queensland. One of these motions was:

That the Commonwealth Constitution be amended to provide that judges shall be appointed to the High Court of Australia by the Commonwealth Government only after obtaining the concurrence of at least the majority of the governments of the Australian States.

This matter was referred to the Judicature Sub-Committee, and became the subject of Chapter 3 of the Sub-Committee's Second Report. Papers from the Commonwealth Government and from Queensland relating to the appointment of High Court judges were printed as Appendices B and C to the report, and a paper from the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department regarding judicial appointments in other federations became Appendix D.

The procedure for the appointment of High Court judges was first discussed by the Convention in Sydney in 1973 and referred to Standing Committee D. The matter was raised at the Melbourne Convention in 1975 but debate was adjourned. Debate continued in 1978 in Perth, where the Convention agreed to a motion supporting consultation between the Commonwealth and States concerning High Court appointments. Later, the practice of consultation between Commonwealth and State Attorneys-General initiated at the Perth Convention was reflected in section 6 of the High Court of Australia Act 1979.

While recommending further debate on appointment procedures, the Judicature Sub- Committee was unable to agree that the Constitution should be amended along the lines proposed by the Queensland motion above.

Trial by Jury

At its meeting on 23 May 1984, the Standing Committee referred the matter of trial by jury to the Judicature Sub-Committee for consideration and report. This matter related to section 80 of the Constitution:

80. The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every such trial shall be held in the State where the offence was committed, and if the offence was not committed within any State the trial shall be held at such place or places as the Parliament prescribes.

The Judicature Sub-Committee produced a Report on Trial by Jury, initially known as Part 3 and later incorporated in the Second Report to Standing Committee as Chapter 4.

In its deliberations, the Judicature Sub-Committee made use of a paper on trial by jury commissioned by Standing Committee D from Sam Ricketson (Lecturer in Law, University of Melbourne).

ACC 8 comprises files compiled by different people including Chief Executive Officer John Finemore and Legal Research Officer Lynette Lenaz-Hoare. The files contain the following kinds of material:

Correspondence: Inward and outward letters of the Chief Executive Officer (and Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer), the Chairman of the Judicature Sub-Committee (Haddon Storey), the Secretary to the Sub-Committee (Denis O'Brien), Research Officer Vanessa Mitchell, and others, together with various reports and papers. The main correspondence file contains lists and an alphabetical index to some (not all) of its contents.

Agendas and Minutes: Agendas and minutes of meetings of the Judicature Sub-Committee, and related correspondence and papers.

Papers: Research and discussion papers, articles, newspaper cuttings, notes on cases, submissions, opinions and comments.

Reports: Drafts and proofs of the Sub-Committee's reports. The final Report to Standing Committee on an Integrated System of Courts, October 1984 and Second Report to Standing Committee, May 1985 can also be found with the printed Proceedings of the Brisbane Convention, 1985. [includes papers c.1902-1986]Access StatusOpen for public accessRequest Access to RecordsRequest records from this Series

Item

Legal Research Officer's Papers, 1984.

Legal Research Officer's Papers, 1983.

Second Report to Standing Committee, May 1985

Report on Trial by Jury, c.1984 - 1985.

Trial by Jury: Paper by Sam Ricketson and associated correspondence and notes, 1980 - 1984.

Family Law 1974 - 1985.

'Constitutional Difficulties Encountered in Australian Family Law', Paper by Peter Waters, 1984.

Miscellaneous Papers and Correspondence on the References of the Judicature Sub-Committee, 1968 - 1985.

Miscellaneous Papers on the References of the Judicature Sub-Committee, 1983 - 1984.

Integrated Courts: Fencott v Muller (1983) 57 ALJR 317, Bargal v Force (1983) 57 ALJR 731, Australian Ocean Line v West Australian Newspapers (1983) 47 ALR 497.

Integrated Courts: papers found with numbered collection above but not indexed

Integrated Courts: collection of numbered papers , nos. 29 - 57, c.1983 - c.1984.

Integrated Courts: collection of numbered papers with index, nos. 1 - 28, c.1927 - c.1983.

Integrated Courts: separate collection of Chief Executive Officer's papers .

Report to Standing Committee on an Integrated System of Courts, October 1984

Report to Standing Committee on an Integrated System of Courts

Australian Institute of Judicial Administration, An Integrated Court System for Australia

Agendas and Minutes, June 1983 - December 1984.

Correspondence and comments on reports, 1984 - 1985.

Correspondence (with contents lists), 1983 - 1985.

Series

[UMA-SR-000000897] ACC 42 Printing (Correspondence with Printers etc.)

[UMA-SR-000000893] ACC 38 Cheryl Saunders' Files

[UMA-SR-000000890] ACC 35 Papers re the Origins, Organisation and Achi

[UMA-SR-000000889] ACC 34 Research Files

[UMA-SR-000000884] ACC 29 Papers on Agenda Items

[UMA-SR-000000874] ACC 19 Printed Proceedings, Reports and Papers

[UMA-SR-000000869] ACC 14 Submissions

[UMA-SR-000000862] ACC 7 Standing Committee Files

[UMA-SR-000000857] ACC 2 Executive Committee Files

Provenance

CreatorAustralian Constitutional ConventionRoleProvenance

Provenance

CreatorFinemore, JohnRoleProvenance

Dates

Date1968-1985

Description Control

Descriptive NoteNote: ACC 8 overlaps particularly with a small collection of files on integrated courts and appointment of High Court judges which can be found in series ACC 29. These files include a mixture of early papers relating to the reference to Standing Committee D of Item 12 (a) and (c) by the 1973 Convention and later papers connected with the work of the Judicature Sub-Committee from 1983 onwards.

Relationships

Preceding Series[UMA-SR-000000860] ACC 5 Standing Committee 'C' FilesRelated Series[UMA-SR-000000862] ACC 7 Standing Committee Files[UMA-SR-000000874] ACC 19 Printed Proceedings, Reports and Papers[UMA-SR-000000884] ACC 29 Papers on Agenda Items[UMA-SR-000000890] ACC 35 Papers re the Origins, Organisation and Achi

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[UMA-SR-000000863] ACC 8 Judicature Sub-Committee Files