Local Court of New South Wales - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

There are over 160 Local Courts in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. Local Court cases are heard by a magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

without a jury

Jury

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...

. It hears summary offences (offences of a less serious nature) as well as indictable offences and committal hearings. It hears civil claims up to $100,000 and has a Small Claims Division for claims less than $10,000. It also hears applications for Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs). The magistrate can imprison offenders for up to two years, however it can accumulate for multiple offences up to a maximum of five years. It is at the bottom of the Australian court hierarchy

Australian court hierarchy

There are two streams within the hierarchy of Australian courts, the federal stream and the state and territory stream. While the federal courts and the court systems in each state and territory are separate, the High Court of Australia remains the ultimate court of appeal for the Australian...

. Also contained within the Local Court are the Children's Court of New South Wales

Children's Court of New South Wales

The Children's Court of New South Wales is a court which deals with criminal offences committed by children over 10 and under 18 as well as with proceedings relating to the care and protection of children...

and the Coroner's Court of New South Wales

Coroner's Court of New South Wales

The name of "Coroners Court" is the generic name given to proceedings in which a Coroner holds an inquest or an inquiry in New South Wales. Coroners have jurisdiction over the remains of a person and the power to make findings in respect of the cause of death of a person...

. The Children's Court hears matters involving those who have not yet reached the age of 18 and is a closed court, meaning the general public may not attend. The media

News media

The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...

are allowed to attend but may not publish the identity of the offender. The Coroner

Coroner

A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

investigates suspicious deaths and fires. It does not punish offenders however, it passes its findings on to another court.

The current Chief Magistrate of the Local Court of NSW is currently His Honour Judge G L Henson.
The current Deputy Chief Magistrates are Her Honour Deputy Chief Magistrate J E Mottley and Her Honour Deputy Chief Magistrate J A Culver.

The current State Coroner of New South Wales is Her Honour Magistrate M S Jerram and the current Chief Industrial Magistrate is His Honour Magistrate G J T Hart.

See also