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181:, had Brooks and Hook unanimously adopt a rule that no attorney who had been struck off the roll of lawyers should be admitted to practise before the court. This was to lead to a falling out between Bent and Macquarie over the status of emancipated convicts. The rule was particularly onerous as there were no attorneys in the colony who hadn't arrived there as convicts. As each convict attorney had been struck off the roll, effectively there was no attorney who could appear in the court. The court later sat with
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who was the deputy-judge-advocate at the time of the creation of the court. The rules included provisions relating to the rights of attorneys to practise, how writs were issued and returned, the keeping of court records, the execution of judgements and pleading procedure. An original copy of those
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Notwithstanding its beginnings as a penal colony, it soon prospered as a booming agricultural and mercantile colony. With the increased prosperity came the need for better access to forms of civil justice. Systems for the resolution of commercial disputes are an important part of the common law
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for the establishment of new civil courts to reflect the changing nature of the society from a penal colony to a trading colony. This reflected the public sentiment in New South Wales that it was time for a legally qualified judge to head a superior court in the colony, rather than a military
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in the colony at the time) to determine smaller debt claims that were taking up the time of these original civil courts. Hilary Golder points to research that magistrates were in fact dealing with small debt claims as early 1789, one year after the commencement of the colony.
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The court was abolished in 1823 after sitting for some eight years. It was replaced by the newly created
Supreme Court of New South Wales established by Letters Patent dated 13 October 1823. Those letters were authorised by the British Parliament through the passing of the
138:. Alternatively, the court could be constituted by just the judge-advocate and one of the two persons appointed by the governor. The court had jurisdiction to hear and determine actions summarily relating to land, houses, debt, contract, trespass, and just about any other
150:, the last judge-advocate for the colony, and the last judge-advocate to preside, noted in a report to the British authorities that there was such a possibility of appointing laymen with no legal knowledge to the court and R. J. Mckay suggests that Governor
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dispensing justice in a more summary way. As the amounts involved before the court were usually quite small, the cost of an appeal would have exceeded whatever was recovered in any event.
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the reigning sovereign of
England at the time. It was composed of the deputy judge-advocate, commonly known in the colony as the “judge-advocate”, and two other persons appointed by the
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officer who happened to have legal qualifications. Macquarie supported this and eventually the
British authorities arranged for new charters to issue for the reform of the civil courts.
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was appointed by the
British authorities in 1815 as Bent’s successor and presided in the Court until its abolition in 1823. From about 1817, the court also sat twice a year outside
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The
British government established the colony of New South Wales primarily as a penal colony with the intention of encouraging later settlement. Captain
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64:. The British authorities foresaw the need for a civil judicial system to be established when the colony was first established. A court styled the “
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in 1901. The court had jurisdiction to deal with civil disputes where the amount in dispute in the colony was not more than ÂŁ50 sterling. The
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was appointed as the colony’s first governor and did much to ensure the colony survived and transformed into a modern colonial outpost
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cases up to £50 sterling in value. One defect in the Court was the ability for a governor to possibly “stack” the court. Sir
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where there was a right of appeal to the
Governor sitting as a court of appeal, with a possible further right of appeal to the
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and
Charles Hook as respectable persons to sit with Bent on the new Court. Bent, being under the influence of his brother
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122:. In respect of New South Wales, a court styled the “Governors Court” was established. The court was created by
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rules is held by the State
Library of New South Wales with annotations later made by Bent’s successor Wylde.
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89:, the first barrister appointed as deputy judge advocate for the colony, made recommendations to Governor
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There was no right of appeal from decisions of the court. This was in contrast to the situation with the
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229:. The lack of a right of appeal reflected the fact that British authorities intended the court as a
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Wylde, Sir John (1781 - 1859) Biographical Entry - Australian
Dictionary of Biography Online
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Bent, Ellis (1783 - 1815) Biographical Entry - Australian
Dictionary of Biography Online
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The British authorities introduced three new civil courts to the colony. There was a
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tradition in British based legal systems, particularly with the establishment of the
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pursuant to letters patent from the High Admiralty in Great Britain. The
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replaced the court in 1823 when the Supreme Court was created by the
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was a court established in the early 19th century in the colony of
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Law & Justice in Australia | State Library of New South Wales
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as acting deputy judge advocate after the death of Bent. Sir
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would also in time authorise magistrates (the common name for
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The Rules and Orders of the Governors Court were drawn up by
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The court first sat in May 1815. Macquarie appointed
24:. The colony was subsequently to become a state of
395:, A Legal History of Australia, Law Book Co, 1975.
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429:Courts and tribunals established in the 1820s
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212:Building where court was held in early 1800s
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424:Courts and tribunals established in 1814
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227:Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
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154:had in fact attempted to do this.
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414:1823 disestablishments in England
223:Supreme Court of Civil Judicature
104:Supreme Court of Civil Judicature
419:1814 establishments in Australia
126:dated 4 February 1814 issued by
30:Supreme Court of New South Wales
114:. There was also established a
195:New South Wales State Archives
134:. The judge-advocate was the
106:(commonly referred to as the “
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257:New South Wales Act 1823 (UK)
118:to deal with civil claims in
132:Governor of New South Wales
116:Lieutenant Governor’s Court
78:Governor of New South Wales
66:Court of Civil Jurisdiction
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205:for the trial of causes.
68:” was established by the
70:First Charter of Justice
34:Third Charter of Justice
74:Court of Vice-Admiralty
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371:Documenting Democracy
276:Documenting Democracy
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169:Sittings of the court
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82:justices of the peace
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376:2007-04-03 at the
346:"Governor's Court"
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281:2007-06-10 at the
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352:on 29 August 2007
231:Court of Requests
183:Frederick Garling
179:Jeffery Hart Bent
136:presiding officer
120:Van Diemen’s Land
112:Van Diemen’s Land
91:Lachlan Macquarie
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62:rule of law
403:Categories
263:References
243:Ellis Bent
199:Parramatta
187:John Wylde
148:John Wylde
140:common law
87:Ellis Bent
40:Background
250:Abolition
161:Governor
144:equitable
26:Australia
374:Archived
356:16 April
316:Archived
279:Archived
387:Sources
217:Appeals
203:Windsor
191:Sydney
358:2007
201:and
16:The
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