Definitions:

•    Legal institutions stand as the bodies on which a framework of laws rest.
•    Bicameral, composed of or based on two legislative chambers or branches.
•    Rule of Law implies that government authority may only be exercised in accordance with written laws, which were adopted through an established procedure. The principle is intended to be a safeguard against arbitrary rulings in individual cases.
•    Customary Law is those different legal systems that evolved in different parts of the world from a range of sources. As implied these laws were developed from customs commonly developed through religious understandings.
•    Natural Law theory that some laws are basic and fundamental to human nature and are discoverable by human reason without reference to specific legislative enactments or judicial decisions. Natural law is opposed to positive law, which is human-made, conditioned by history, and subject to continuous change.
•    Subordinate Legislation is laws made by ministers under powers given to them by parliamentary acts in order to implement and administer the requirements of the acts. It has equal effect in the judiciary although ministers can be challenged in the courts on the grounds that specific pieces of delegated legislation are not properly based on powers given by acts.

Overview of Legal Institutions
Legal Systems

•    Australia is a common law country; its legal system is based on the English common law system. Other common law countries include USA, Canada, NZ, and Ireland.
•    Most of Europe operates under a civil law system, i.e., both substantive and procedural are contained in comprehensive documents called codes.
•    Both common and civil law make up the Western Legal Tradition (WLT).
•    The WLT finds its origins in Roman history, in a compilation of Christian and Greek legal principles. (Organised by Emperor Justinian, known as “Corpus Juris Civilis”)
•    Separation of Power is the system of distributing legislative, judicial and executive powers amongst parliament. This prevents the concentration of power in one arm and allows for each arm to focus with greater ease.

Parliament

•    Law making body made up of 3 parts; Queen (or representative), Senate and the House of Representatives.
•    Legislative power of the states has been noted to be much wider than that of its federal counterpart.
•    Federal gov’t through s51 of the constitution are allocated their powers
•    S109 of the constitution states that where conflicts between
state and federal law arise federal law overrules state law.

Executive

•   One of the arms of Gov’t
•    Representatives of parliament can only be elected through being members of parliament.
•    Theory of Public service, states that members of public service departments remain neutral and add neutral advice irrespective of the gov’t of the day.

Judiciary (Courts)

•    On the state level the Australian court hierarchy starts at the Local courts leading to the District court followed by the Supreme moving finally to the High court of Australia.
•    On the federal level the Australia court hierarchy starts at the Magistrates court moving to the Federal court finally to the High court of Australia.
•    Original jurisdiction is the ability of the court to hear a case for the first time, e.g., the local court.
•    Appellate jurisdiction is the ability for the court to hear an appeal, e.g., the High court of Australia has appellate jurisdiction only, unless dealing with constitutional law disputes.

The Nature and Sources of Constitutional Law
Sources of Law

•    Major source of rules of law applying in Australia comes from cases. Precedent is reactive, i.e., only responds to disputes as they arise. Due to the specific nature of cases the rulings that eventuate from them act as general principles that govern how we live.
•    Legislation is the other major source of rules of law. Legislation is proactive, i.e., parliament passes laws to be preventative. Due to the broad nature of legislation general terms are used in order to govern specific behaviours.
•    Statue always overrules precedent, court attempt to interpret what was meant by parliament through the legislation.
•    Constitution acts as the expression of political will. The Australian federal constitution explicitly states the system in which Australian gov’t should be run.
•    Each state and territory also has a constitution. Unlike the federal version the state constitution can be amended through acts of parliament rather than the process of referenda.

Classifications of Law

•    Public Law governs the operation of the state and the relationship between the state and its citizens. E.g., accusation of crime, entitlement to welfare and taxation assessment.
•    Private Law is concerned with the relationship between citizens. E.g., commercial matters, dispute of wills and property etc.
•    Civil Law is that concerned with private disputes. Successful civil actions usually result in monetary compensation.
•    Criminal Law is concerned with standards of conduct that are viewed as having such importance that their breach may result in punishment, either a fine or imprisonment. Criminal actions are brought by a representative of the state.