Annotated Bibliography: Australian Court System

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Annotated Bibliography: Australian Court System Annotated Bibliography Opeskin, Brian. 2013. The state of the judicature: A statistical profile of Australian courts and judges. The Sydney Law Review, 35, (3): 489-517. This article by Opeskin (2013) aims to provide a detailed account of Australian courts that accurately reflects how it functions today. Opeskin (2013) considers this ‘State of the Australian Judicature’ address is the first detailed account of information about the Australian courts and judges since Chief Justice Barwick’s inaugural address to Australian Legal Convention in 1977. Opeskin (2013) describes the judicial system with the purpose of revealing patterns within the system, which may in turn prompt reflection about their purpose. The article’s focus is on the larger questions regarding how the judicial system has evolved in the relatively recent past. Opeskin’s (2013) article is segmented into six sections, with each addressing a different attribute of Australian courts and judges based on available data: size and growth, tiers of the court hierarchy, state versus federal judicial systems, civil versus criminal subject matter, regional dynamics, and gender composition. Other features are identified although only briefly discussed. The data for this research was sourced from a variety of public and private places, …show more content…

It is a useful resource for understanding the characteristics of the Australian court system as a whole and clarifying assumptions about its nature. Opeskin (2013) does however state a limitation to his research is the available data on key aspects of the judicial system, which is not comprehensive in some areas. This article’s scope is limited to the features previously listed; therefore supplementary information about other features will be required for a fuller understanding of the judicial

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