The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Founded in 1852, it is a

superior court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

and equity, with unlimited and

inherent Inherence refers to Empedocles' idea that the qualities of matter come from the relative proportions of each of the four elements entering into a thing. The idea was further developed by Plato and Aristotle. Overview That Plato accepted (or ...

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

within the state. The Supreme Court comprises two divisions: the Trial Division, which oversees its

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems, original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

, and the Court of Appeal, which deals with its

appellate jurisdiction An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

, and is frequently referred to as a court in its own right. Although the Supreme Court is theoretically vested with unlimited jurisdiction, it generally only hears, at trial, criminal cases in instances of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, and civil cases where the statement of claim is in excess of the

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...

limit of $100,000. The court hears appeals from the County Court, as well as limited appeals from the

. Decisions of the Supreme Court are appealable to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

. The

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

itself is on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court has two divisions - the Trial Division and the Court of Appeal.

Trial Division

The Trial Division sits with one judge, and usually acts as a court of original jurisdiction for serious criminal matters such as murder, attempted murder, corporate offences and certain conspiracy charges, and civil matters which are considered to involve greater complexity or amounts of money more than would be appropriate to have determined in the

(whose civil jurisdictional limit is $100,000) or County Court (whose jurisdiction has since the beginning of 2007 been unlimited as to amount). The Trial Division also acts as an appeal court from the Magistrates' Court on questions of law, and appeals from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on points of law, except against an order of the President or Vice-President of the Tribunal. It also hears federal

indictable offence In many common law jurisdictions (e.g. England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore), an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing ...

s such as treason. The

Commercial Court Business courts, sometimes referred to as commercial courts, are specialized courts for legal cases involving commercial law, internal business disputes, and other matters affecting businesses. In the US, they are trial courts that primarily or ...

is a sub-division of the Trial Division, composed of specialist judges to deal with commercial disputes.

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal hears appeals from the County Court and the Trial Division, as well as appeals on points of law from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against the order of the President or Vice-President, and usually consists of a panel of three Judges of Appeal. In rare cases where it is sought to overrule or reconsider the correctness of a previous Court of Appeal decision, it can sit with five judges. Front facade of the Supreme Court of Victoria

Front facade of the Supreme Court of Victoria

Supreme Court of Victoria Front Entrance

Supreme Court of Victoria Library Tower Dome

Locations

The main buildings for the Supreme Court are located at the corner of William and Lonsdale Streets in Melbourne and in nearby buildings. The Supreme Court also does circuits to

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...

Wodonga Wodonga (pronounced ; ) is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury-Wodonga and is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga L ...

, Sale and

Morwell Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne. Morwell has a population of 14,389 people at the . It is both the capital and administra ...

. In these locations the Court uses the facilities of the local Magistrates' Court.

Current judges

(appointment date in brackets):

Chief Justice

Richard Niall Richard Michael Niall is an Australian jurist who has served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 3 February 2025. He previously served as a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 28 November ...

(Court of Appeal from 28 November 2017; 3 February 2025)

President of the Court of Appeal

Karin Emerton Karin Leigh Emerton (born 6 May 1957) is a justice of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria in Australia. Emerton is a graduate of the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales in Australia, and completed a doctorat ...

(Trial Division from 13 October 2009; Court of Appeal from 10 July 2018; 16 July 2022)

Judges of the Court of Appeal

* Phillip Priest (23 October 2012) * David Beach (Trial Division from 5 September 2008; 22 October 2013) *

Stephen McLeish Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

(5 March 2015) * Maree Kennedy (Trial Division from 25 July 2016; 15 December 2020) *

Kristen Walker Kristen Walker is an Australian lawyer. She is a judge in the Court of Appeal of Victoria and former Solicitor-General of Victoria. Early life Walker's father was a barrister, and she had no intent of following his footsteps. She initially e ...

(3 May 2021) *Lesley Taylor (Trial Division from 10 July 2018; 25 October 2022) *

Kevin Lyons Kevin Orchard Lyons (7 February 1923 – 24 May 2000) was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the seat of Darwin (later renamed Braddon). Biography Early life Born in 1923 in Hobart, he was the ...

(Trial Division from 22 May 2018; 31 October 2023) *Christopher Boyce (21 November 2023) *Rowena Orr (18 April 2024)

Judges of the Trial Division

* James Dudley Elliott (25 March 2013) * Melanie Sloss (30 July 2013) *Michael Croucher (30 July 2013) * Christopher William Beale (2 September 2014) * Michael Phillip McDonald (16 September 2014) *

Rita Incerti Rita Incerti (born 28 December 1961) is a Justice in the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She has also been known as Justice Rita Zammit, but reverted to using her maiden name, Incerti, in January 2020. Career Rita Incerti gradu ...

(3 February 2015) *Jane Dixon (17 August 2015) *Andrew John Keogh (4 April 2016) * Peter Barrington Kidd (24 May 2016) *Michelle Quigley (19 December 2017) *Matthew Connock (10 April 2018) *Melinda Richards (24 April 2018) *Steven Moore (10 July 2018) *Andrew Tinney (10 July 2018) *Jacinta Forbes (16 April 2019) *Lisa Nichols (22 October 2019) *Christopher James Delany (2 June 2020) *Kathryn Stynes (22 June 2020) *James Gorton (15 December 2020) *Michael Osborne (15 December 2020) *Stephen O'Meara (18 May 2021) *Richard Attiwill (18 May 2021) *Amanda Fox (13 August 2021) *Andrea Tsalamandris (22 February 2022) *Lisa Hannan (29 March 2022) *Edward Woodward (5 June 2023) *Peter Gray (14 June 2023) *Patricia Matthews (14 June 2023) *Ian Waller (12 September 2023) *Claire Harris (4 November 2023) *Andrew Watson (13 November 2023) *Paul Cosgrave (8 December 2023) *

Kerri Judd Kerri Judd (born 1966) is an Australian lawyer who has been a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 17 September 2024. She was previously the Director of Public Prosecutions for the state of Victoria from 2018 to 2024, the first woman to ...

(17 September 2024)

References

Notes

External links

Official Supreme Court of Victoria websiteJudges - Historic ListSupreme Court Act (The Act which governs the Supreme Court)
(pdf 459kb) {{Authority control Victoria (state) courts and tribunals 1852 establishments in Australia Courts and tribunals established in 1852