High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the court of last resort for the jurisdiction of Australia. It is established by Section 71 of the Australian Constitution.

Founded in 1901 upon the federation of the former British colonies of Australia, the High Court became the court of last resort in 1986 upon passage of the Australia Act. This legislation abolished recourse to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The first three justices of the High Court were:

• The Chief Justice, Sir Samuel Griffith, former Premier and former Chief Justice of Queensland.
• Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Australian Constitutional Conventions of the 1890s
• Richard Edward O'Connor.

In 1906, an additional two justices were appointed, and in 1912 the bench was expanded to seven justices. During the Great Depression, two of the seats were left vacated due to the decline in the volume of work.

As of 1980, the High Court ordinarily sits in the High Court building in Canberra (Prior to this, the court's facilities were shared between the cities of Sydney and Melbourne). Once a year, the court travels on circuit to some of Australia's more remote cities, such as Perth, Western Australia.

The current (as at 2003) sitting justices of the High Court are:

• Chief Justice Anthony Gleeson

• Justice Michael McHugh

• Justice William Gummow

• Justice Michael Kirby

• Justice Kenneth Hayne

• Justice Ian Callinan

• Justice John Heydon

See also List of Judges of the High Court of Australia.

External Links

• Official High Court of Australia website