Judicial ReEngineering

Common Law Countries
Australia
In Australia, the High Court of Australia became the court of last resort with the passing of the
Australia Act in 1986. This act abolished the last rights of appeal to the Privy Council. Each state
and territory has its own Supreme Court, which is the highest court in that state/territory. This
leads to some confusion among those from other jurisdictions as the term "supreme court" seems
to refer to the court of last resort. The reason that the High Court of Australia is not named the
"supreme court" is purely historical. Before the federation of the Australian colonies as states of
Australia (in 1901), each colony had its own independent judicial system with a supreme court as
the highest court physically within the colony (with a right of appeal to the Privy Council). On
federation, the constitution provided for the establishment of a federal "supreme court", to be
named the "High Court" which could hear appeals from the state Supreme Courts. With the
exception of the Australian Capital Territory, each state's Supreme Court is divided into two
divisions: the Trial Division and the Court of Appeal. Appeals from the ACT Supreme Court are
heard in the High Court of Australia. The current Chief Justice of the High Court is Robert
French.
Bangladesh
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is created by the provisions of the Constitution of
Bangladesh, 1972. There are two Divisions of the Supreme Court, i.e. (a) Appellate Division and
(b) High Court Division. Appellate Division is the highest Court of Appeal and usually does not
exercise the powers of a court of first instance. Whereas, the High Court Division is a Court of
first instance in company and admiralty matters. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is the
protector and guardian of Bangladesh Constitution.
The judgements of Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court are accessible in the
Chancery Law Chronicles.
Canada
In Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada was established in 1875 but only became the highest
court in the country in 1949 when the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council was abolished. This court hears appeals of decisions made by courts of appeal from the
provinces and territories and appeals of decisions made by the Federal Court of Appeal. The
court's decisions are final and binding on the federal courts and the courts from all provinces and
territories. The title "Supreme" can be confusing because, for example, The Supreme Court of
British Columbia does not have the final say and controversial cases heard there often get
appealed in higher courts - it is in fact one of the lower courts in such a process.
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