History of the Local Court

The Local Court of New South Wales traces its origin to the bench of Sydney Magistrates established in the late eighteenth century, by the first colonial Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip.

Made up of more than one hundred Courts with the power to hear cases in civil, criminal and family law, the Local Court is the busiest Court in Australia. The Local Court is where all criminal and some civil cases in NSW first enter the Court system. Today, 98% of all criminal and civil cases in NSW are finalised in the Local Court.

The First Charter of Justice – 1787

The First Charter of Justice authorised the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Judge Advocate with the power to convene a criminal Court. The Governor held the power to appoint and dismiss Magistrates. A number of civil and military officers were appointed as Magistrates (also known as Justices of the Peace). They inherited similar powers to English Justices of the Peace to determine minor criminal charges and convict people in discipline cases.

The charter also created a Court of Civil Jurisdiction to hear and decide cases where pleas related to real and personal property, debts, contracts, grants of probate and to administer intestate estates.

Proceedings were recorded and given to the Governor for inspection.

First Paid Magistrate – 1810

D'Arcy Wentworth became the first paid Magistrate in New South Wales in 1810. Until this time, the role of a Magistrate was honorary, and Magistrates had to combine their Magisterial duties with other positions in the colonial government, military, or in private enterprise.

First Courthouse – 1821

The oldest existing Local Courthouse in New South Wales was built in Windsor in 1821. Since 1788, more than three hundred Courthouses have been built in New South Wales. With the many changes the Court system has undergone, there are still more than 100 of these Courthouses in operation, delivering justice for the people of New South Wales.

Magistrates Get Paid – 1830

Payment of Magistrates became common practice from 1830, with these newly paid Magistrates eventually being called ‘Stipendiary Magistrates’.

New Courts of Petty Sessions – 1832

The Offenders Punishment and Justices Summary Jurisdiction Act (Act 3 William IV C. 3) was granted assent by the Governor of New South Wales, Major-General Richard Bourke, in Council in 1832. The Act defined the powers and authorities of the Courts of Petty Sessions and regulated the summary jurisdiction of the Justices of the Peace.

Under the Act, two or more Justices sitting together could convict people on charges of theft, drunkenness, disobedience of orders, neglect of or running away from work, abusive language to their master or other disorderly or dishonest conduct. Other duties formerly performed by the bench of Magistrates were performed by the Justices in Petty Sessions.

The Act also allowed the appointment of a Clerk at each location where Petty Sessions was held.

The Courts of Petty Sessions of New South Wales were formally established in New South Wales by proclamation in the Government Gazette. The name 'Court of Petty Sessions' was used commonly until this time without any statutory basis. Petty Sessions were held in the following locations:

Bathurst Bong Bong or Berrima Campbelltown Darlington Goulburn Plains Inverary In common Liverpool Maitland Merton

Newcastle Parramatta Paterson's Plains Penrith Port Macquarie Port Stephens Stonequarry Creek Sydney Windsor Wollongong

Metropolitan Magistrates Act – 1881

'Skilled and trained' Stipendiary Magistrates were created under the Metropolitan Magistrates Act 1881 for the Sydney district and they had exclusive jurisdiction to deal with criminal summary offences in Sydney.

Government-paid Magistrates had been increasingly seen to be more impartial in deciding cases and had greater knowledge and experience in legal matters. Stipendiary Magistrates were not required to be qualified lawyers but were selected based on an assessment of their training and efficiency as Clerks of Petty Sessions.

Justices Act – 1902

In 1902, the New South Wales Parliament passed the Justices Act, which consolidated the laws that established the Courts of Petty Sessions, Stipendiary Magistrates, Police Magistrates, and Court procedures.

Standardisation and Legal Qualifications – 1947–1955

In 1947, the Justices (Amendment) Act 1947 came into force, abolishing the title of ‘Police Magistrate’ and simply having ‘Stipendiary Magistrates’ all across New South Wales. This ended the two-type system of Magistrates, with a single integrated, coherent, and unified Magistracy. Magistrates, however, continued to be public servants, employed under standard public service principles, unlike Judges of the Supreme Court, Courts of Quarter Sessions and the District Courts (the latter two of which became the unified District Court of New South Wales in 1973).

However, there was still a two-tiered system of Magistrates with legal qualifications and those without. There were fears from as early as 1940, that the legally qualified Clerks of Petty Sessions would leave the public service and go into private practice, rather than seek to become Magistrates. In 1947, the Public Service Board established the Petty Sessions Reorganisation Committee, which in 1948 issued a circular that stated from 1955, all new Magistrates would have to either have completed an undergraduate law degree, or passed the examinations required for admission as a barrister or solicitor. From then on, the role of Magistrate was seen as a vital component of the justice system, one where being a lawyer was a normative necessity.

Courts of Petty Sessions become the Local Courts – 1985

Despite new appointments now having to be legally qualified, the Magistracy still remained an arm of the executive government, not a component of the independent Judiciary. In the years before 1982, the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the Courts of Petty Sessions was increased, which elevated the seriousness and complexity of their matters, and in turn, led to the increase in status of Magistrates. The Magistracy continued to push to become independent just like the higher Courts.

The Magistracy achieved some of their goals with the Local Courts Act 1982, going some of the way to independency. The Act did the following:

Semi-Judicial Independence

Magistrates were exempted from the operations of the Public Service Act 1979 in their appointment and their work. However, there still remained three tiers of job security for Local Court Magistrates and Judges of the District and Supreme Courts. Magistrates were to hold office “during ability and good behaviour”, while Judges of the District Court also had the protection of an appeal to the Executive Council prior to dismissal. Judges of the Supreme Court could only be removed by the Governor on an address from both Houses of Parliament.

New Name

Just as how the District Court Act 1973 had abolished the Courts of Quarter Sessions in favour of the District Court, 1985 saw the anachronistic name of Courts of Petty Sessions of New South Wales be replaced by the Local Courts of New South Wales, both reflecting the changing times, and the complexity of some matters now being heard in that Court that could hardly be described as ‘petty’.

Refined Title

The Act formally changed the title of Stipendiary Magistrates to Magistrates, removing the bygone reference to the fact that there once were paid and unpaid Magistrates at the same time.

Chief Magistrate

The Act created the position of Chief Magistrate, replacing the Chairman of the Bench of Stipendiary Magistrates. The Chief Magistrate would have specific statutory responsibility for the administration of the Bench. Court sittings and the deployment of Magistrates was within the purview of the new Chief Magistrate.

Judicial Officers Act – 1986

1986 saw the wholesale change of status for Magistrates with the Judicial Officers Act. The Act established Magistrates as independent Judicial Officers, on the same terms as Judges of the District and Supreme Courts. In the development of the Bill, there were grumblings from Supreme Court Judges about lowering their threshold for dismissal, and as the Act was regularising and standardising the employment conditions of all Judicial Officers, Magistrates and Judges of the District Court were elevated to needing an address of both Houses of Parliament to be removed from office.

The Act also created the Judicial Commission of New South Wales, which would have several focuses: supplying the continuing judicial education to all Judicial Officers and having a Conduct Division which would investigate alleged misconduct of Judicial Officers. The Conduct Division could recommend that Parliament consider the removal of a Judicial Officer, further establishing the independency and security of the tenure of all Judicial Officers.

Small Claims Division and Assessors – 1991

The Local Courts (Civil Claims) Amendment Act 1990 (commenced in 1991) restructured the civil jurisdiction of the Local Courts into the Small Claims and General Divisions, with the Small Claims Division able to hear matters up to a value of $3,000 (the Small Claims Division can now hear matters up to a value of $20,000). The Small Claims Division features less formal proceedings, and the rules of evidence do not apply. Given the small value of the claims in this Division, the Act also introduced the position of Assessors, who are quasi-judicial roles. Assessors are not Judicial Officers and are appointed for terms of 7 years (they can be reappointed subsequently).

Magistrates’ Retirement Age Extended – 2003

The retirement age of magistrates was increased to 72 years old, the same as Judges of District and Supreme Courts.

'Your Honour' – 2004

The form of address for Magistrates in Court changed from 'Your Worship' to 'Your Honour' in line with Judges of District and Supreme Courts. This move further regularised Magistrates as Judicial Officers, just the same as Judges.

Robing – 2005

With the Courts Legislation Amendment Act 2005, Magistrates were no longer prohibited from wearing robes in Court. From then on, Magistrates have the option of wearing a robe during Court proceedings. Legal practitioners continue to be prohibited from wearing robes in Court.

Local Court Act – 2007

In 2007, it became the turn of the Local Courts to be combined into a single statewide jurisdiction, as the District Courts had done in 1973, becoming the District Court of New South Wales. The new Local Court of New South Wales continued the principles of the Local Courts, with the improvement that as the Court was now a statewide institution, the transfer of matters between Courthouses was simpler, as was the filing of documents at any Courthouse, rather than the specific Local Court where the matter was listed.

Prior to 2007, Court Registrars were appointed as specific Clerks of a Local Court, which meant that they could not exercise any authority in a different Local Court, nor be moved without being appointed to the new location. The Act changed that, with Registrars now being able to exercise authority at more than one location, and likewise District Court and Local Court Registrars could be the same person, where both Courts sit in the same location.

Magistrates’ Retirement Age Extended – 2018

The retirement age of magistrates was extended to 75 years old, the same as Judges of District and Supreme Courts.