Magistrates Court of the Australian Capital Territory

Magistrates Court of the Australian Capital Territory
The Magistrates Court Building located in Civic, Canberra, completed in 1996.
Map
35°16′49″S 149°07′37″E / 35.280385°S 149.127023°E / -35.280385; 149.127023
Established
  • 25 November 1930 (1930-11-25) (as the Court of Petty Sessions)[1]
  • 1 February 1986 (1986-02-01) (as the Magistrates Court)[1]
Jurisdiction
LocationCanberra
Coordinates35°16′49″S 149°07′37″E / 35.280385°S 149.127023°E / -35.280385; 149.127023
Composition methodExecutive appointment following advice of the Attorney-General
Authorised byAustralian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly via the Magistrates Court Act 1930 (ACT)
Appeals toSupreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory
Judge term lengthMandatory retirement by age of 70
Websitewww.courts.act.gov.au/magistrates
Chief Magistrate
CurrentlyLorraine Walker
Since13 October 2011 (2011-10-13)

The Magistrates Court of the Australian Capital Territory is a court of summary jurisdiction that deals with the majority of criminal law matters and the majority of small civil law matters in the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory.[2]

The current Chief Magistrate is Lorraine Walker, appointed with effect from 13 October 2011.[3] However, Magistrate Glenn Theakston has been appointed Acting Chief Magistrate due to Walker's 12-month appointment as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court.[4] Currently eight magistrates and one special magistrate assist the Chief Magistrate in hearing matters before the Court.[5][6]

The court is located on Knowles Place near London Circuit at Civic, in Canberra, in the ACT Law Courts building that it shares with the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory opened in 2019.[7][8]

  1. ^ a b "History of the ACT Magistrates Court". ACT Magistrates Court. ACT Government. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  2. ^ DEWHA. "Australian Antarctic Territory Act 1954". www.legislation.gov.au. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference actmc appointments was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Back, Alexandra (30 July 2019). "Bench shuffle as chief magistrate moves into new drug court role". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference actmc current and former appointments was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Stage 1 of ACT Law Courts complete with new plaque". ACT Government. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  8. ^ Ryan, Emma (18 March 2019). "Stage 1 redevelopment of ACT Law Courts complete". www.lawyersweekly.com.au. Retrieved 21 March 2019.