Australian Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Australian Law - Essay Example â€Å"Decisions of the High Court are binding on all other courts throughout Australia† (High Court of Australia 2010: The High Court of Australia is the uppermost Court in the judicial system of Australia, the Court of "last resort", in the judicial system of final appeal. It has its origins in the Australian Constitution, Section 71 of which affirms: â€Å"The judicial power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of Australia, and in such other federal courts as Parliament creates, and in such other courts as it invests with federal jurisdiction† (The High Court of Australia n.d: 1). The High Court shall comprise a Chief Justice and also a lot of other Judges, not below two, as the Parliament has laid down. The fundamental functions of the High Court are to construe and support the Constitution, to construe Federal law and to attend to cases referred from other Courts. Therefore, it is the purpose of this essay to d iscuss why a decision of the High Court on the constitutionality of a Statute will be seen by the Government as a further serious setback to its legislative reform plan than a judgment by a Judge of a State Supreme Court in understanding the meaning of an important provision in the statute, in a way contrary to the Government’s goal.... of this essay to discuss why a decision of the High Court on the constitutionality of a Statute will be seen by the Government as a further serious setback to its legislative reform plan than a judgment by a Judge of a State Supreme Court in understanding the meaning of an important provision in the statute, in a way contrary to the Government’s goal. The Australian Constitution states that the power to create laws is vested in the Parliament. At the same time, the power to understand laws and to judge whether they are relevant in individual cases is vested in the High Court and other Central Courts. Actually, one of the important functions of the High Court is to interpret the Constitution. For instance, the Australian High Court can rule a law to be illegal which is beyond the authority of Parliament to enact and so of no effect. Such a condition would be seen by the Government as an obstruction. The Australian Constitution founds the Federal Government by providing for the Parliament, the Judiciary and the Executive, that is identified as the three pillars of governance or as the policy of â€Å"separation of powers† (Clark 2009: 972). Parliamentary Government means that the Executive Government comes from in the Parliament. Accountable Government means that the Executive Government is accountable to the Parliament. The rule of â€Å"separation of powers† is to prevent an oppressive government. The â€Å"three branches of government† constituted by the Legislature, Judiciary and Executive, work as checks and balances on each other (About Parliament. n.d:1). The Judiciary is â€Å"independent† of the other two arms of Government (1). That independence is one of the main critical safeguards of the democratic system of the country. The Executive is the managerial part of