| Supreme Court of Tasmania | |
|---|---|
_(St_Edwards_Crown).svg) TheRoyal Arms used by the Supreme Court of Tasmania | |
 Supreme Court of Tasmania building, Hobart | |
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| 42°53′10″S147°19′46″E / 42.886048°S 147.329556°E /-42.886048; 147.329556 | |
| Established | 10 May 1824 |
| Jurisdiction |  Tasmania |
| Location | Hobart |
| Coordinates | 42°53′10″S147°19′46″E / 42.886048°S 147.329556°E /-42.886048; 147.329556 |
| Composition method | Vice-regal appointment uponPremier's nomination, following advice of theAttorney General and theCabinet |
| Authorised by | Parliament of Tasmania via the:Supreme Court Act 1959 (Tas) |
| Appeals to | High Court of Australia |
| Appeals from | Magistrates' Court of Tasmania |
| Judge term length | Mandatory retirement by age of 75 |
| Number of positions | 7 |
| Website | supremecourt |
| Chief Justice of Tasmania | |
| Currently | Chris Shanahan |
| Since | 8 April 2013 |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Tasmania |
|---|
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| Constitution |
TheSupreme Court of Tasmania is the highest Statecourt in theAustralianState ofTasmania. Together with the Magistrates Court, it forms thejudiciary in Tasmania. In theAustralian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both anappellate jurisdiction over lower courts, and decisions made by Court to be heard on appeal by theHigh Court of Australia.
The ordinary sittings of the Court occur inHobart,Launceston andBurnie in Tasmania. The Court's Appeal division sits only in Hobart.
TheSupreme Court of Van Diemen's Land (as Tasmania was then known) was established by The RoyalLetters Patent of 13 October 1823 and commenced activities on 10 May 1824.[1] The Court is the oldest Supreme Court in Australia and predates theSupreme Court of New South Wales, if only by a period of just ten days. The supreme courts of Tasmania and New South Wales were initiated through theNew South Wales Act 1823, and this gave those courts jurisdiction over New Zealand.[2]Sir John Pedder, after whomLake Pedder is named, was the firstChief Justice of the court.
The first counsel to appear before the Court was Joseph Tice Gellibrand, who was appointed Tasmania's firstAttorney-General, and took his oaths on the first day of the new Court. The first case before the Court was the trial of William Tibbs, who was found guilty and sentenced for manslaughter, receiving 3 years transportation.[3]
Dorothy Shea, the court's librarian between 1988 and 2016,[4] discovered that the court had the original copies of a large amount of Tasmanian legislation, dating back to 1833.[5] Shea led the project to restore and relocate the legislation to theTasmanian Archive and Heritage Office; the project was finished in just after Shea's death in 2024.[4][5]
It has unlimitedjurisdiction within the state incivil matters and hears the most seriouscriminal matters. It is around the middle of theAustralian court hierarchy. The Supreme Court consists of a Trial Division (also known as Original Jurisdiction) and an Appeal Division (or Appellate Jurisdiction).[6] When sitting in its appellate jurisdiction in civil matters it is the "Full Court"; for criminal matters it is the "Tasmanian Court of Criminal Appeal".[7]
Appeals from the Appeal Division of the Court are to the High Court of Australia. It was previously possible to appeal decisions of the Court of Appeal or the Court of Criminal Appeal (both parts of the Appeal Division) to theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, but this ceased in 1986 when theParliament of Australia passed theAustralia Act 1986, which terminated all such appeals to the Privy Council from Australian courts, except for those cases pending at that time.
Civil matters involving consent orders, or for disputes involving less than $50,000, are dealt with by theMagistrates Court except in exceptional circumstances.
The Court receives appeals from Magistrate Courts inTasmania in both criminal and civil matters. Committal proceedings, which are used in criminal matters to establish whether there is sufficient evidence against an accused person to warrant the time and expense of a trial, were abolished in Tasmania in 2000 with the amendment of theJustices Act 1959 (Tas). TheJustices Act 1959
now provides that where there has been a plea of not guilty by an accused, there must be an order committing them for trial in the Supreme Court.
Unlike some other Australian states, Tasmania does not have an intermediate court division between the Supreme Court and the Magistrates Courts (such as a "District Court" or a "County Court").[8]
The Supreme Court of Tasmania is composed of up to seven judges appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Executive Council, a body of senior ministers including the state Premier. As of 15 July 2024[update], the judges of the Supreme Court of Tasmania are:The Associate Judge, a lower-ranking judicial officer previously called the Master, has responsibility for largely procedural matters in civil and criminal proceedings, and for some work in assessing the damages (amounts claimable) in civil proceedings.
| Justice | Position | Commenced |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Justice | Chris Shanahan | 2025 |
| Justice | Helen Wood | 2009 |
| Justice | Stephen Estcourt | 2013 |
| Justice | Robert Pearce | 2013 |
| Justice | Michael Brett | 2016 |
| Justice | Tamara Jago | 2021 |
| Justice | Vacant | |
| Associate Justice | Michael Daly | 2024 |
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| International | |
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| National | |
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