The High Court of Australia

 

“This imposing building on the south shore of Lake Burley Griffin is home to many historic court decisions”

 

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               Seal of the High Court

 

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The High Court building is located within the Parliamentary Triangle, just a spit from several other interesting places.  We tried to get in on our last visit to Canberra, but it was closed – maybe all the judges were on holiday – or it could have been because we happened to be in the neighbourhood on a Sunday….  This time, we made sure to go on a weekday, and found it open but there were no cases being heard.  At first we were disappointed not to be able to see the judges in their finery deliberating over a breach of constitutional law, but soon realized the High Court doesn’t need a case to be in session to make it an interesting place to visit.

 

Looking down into the foyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This building was designed to impress, and it does.  Here is the front, with its rather grand entrance. 

 

 

One of the side doors, by which we exited, to head next door
to the National Gallery.

 

 There are three courtrooms inside, linked by ramps.

 

 

 

Each courtroom has a knowledgeable attendant in attendance, happy to answer any and all questions about the history and function of the High Court.  The first one we met, in the largest courtroom, was terribly interesting, if somewhat pedantic.  He had a habit of putting his thumbs in the lapels of his suit, rather like a pompous lawyer, when discussing the finer points of law. He explained the main functions of the High Court, which are to interpret and apply the law of Australia; to decide cases of special federal significance including challenges to the constitutional validity of laws, and to hear appeals from Federal, State and Territory courts.

 

Our pedagogic attendant expressed great surprise at our ignorance of these matters, and couldn’t understand why, even though we are migrants who’ve only been in this country for half our lives, we were unfamiliar with the workings of the highest court in the land.  Shame on us.  Indeed, until this day, we hadn’t fully comprehended the history, the importance nor the power of the Australian constitution, which was written in part, by the great grandfather of Alex, our very own local MP (whom Tony has met and likes to tell people what a great guy Alex is, even though we never vote for him and wish he would go away).

 

In our discussion about the separation of powers, the court’s relationship to parliament and the whole concept of a Constitutional Monarchy, our attendant was careful not to express any of his personal opinions.  However, it was clear by the way he coughed discreetly and said things like ‘I wouldn’t like to say while wearing this (‘this’ being the conservative dark suit, white shirt, official High Court tie and highly polished shoes that all the attendants wear), but if I was dressed differently, I might say…. etc etc’  So despite being very careful, he let us know quite clearly that Australia is the most wonderful country in the world and the Queen is the only Head of State we should ever want or need.  And his arguments were so convincing, we came out of there agreeing with him.

 

 

 

Left: Courtroom 1, the largest one, where the full bench of  seven High Court Justices hear constitutional cases and appeals.

 

Right:  Close up of the tapestry on the wall, depicting the Federation Star and each of Australia’s six states (but where are the territories?), the most important one being South Australia, represented by the ‘Piping Shrike’ (i.e. Magpie) in the lower left corner.

 

 

 

 

 

Left:  Courtroom 2, where five of the justices sit, and where there’s the most attractive Coat of Arms.

 

Right:  Linda nearly managed to get through the entire holiday without having her picture taken, but the attendant in this courtroom insisted on taking one of us.

 

 

Here he is, giggling about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtroom 3, the small and cosy one

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having learned so much about our Constitution and all that, we vowed there and then to drop out bits of our new found knowledge in conversations with friends at every opportunity.  And realizing that the Justices of the High Court travel around the country and hear cases in all the capital cities, we resolved to find out when they’ll be in Adelaide, and pop in for a visit.

 

Then we took the advice of one of the attendants and walked down the long ramp to the lower ground floor, where we finished off a pleasant morning in the cafeteria, munching something dry and tasteless which cost a lot of money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stolen hat – if you spot anybody wearing it, arrest him!

On our way out, we asked an attendant if he thought the High Court Justices would be interested in hearing the case of the stolen hat (wherein Tony removed his hat in a pub and forgot to pick it up when we left, and some wicked bounder found it and kept it).  What could be more unconstitutional than stealing somebody’s favourite, custom-made, absolutely unique hat?  And the hat had ‘Canada’ and a maple leaf on it, so doesn’t that make this practically an international incident?  Sympathetic as he was, the attendant wasn’t hopeful of the case ever getting as far as the High Court.  However, he did promise to keep an eye out for the hat, and make a citizen’s arrest of anybody he caught wearing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To visit the official High Court of Australia website, click here > http://www.hcourt.gov.au