Australian courts are independent. A court decides whether a person has broken the law and decides the penalty, and can only base that decision on the evidence before it. Judges and magistrates are appointed by the government, but the government cannot remove them because it disagrees with their decisions — that single sentence is what independence actually means here. People are considered innocent until found guilty, and everyone has the right to be represented by a lawyer.
"The courts are independent" is the kind of statement that is easy to nod along with and hard to answer questions about.
What makes this section of Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond worth reading closely is that it does not leave independence as a sentiment. It names the specific arrangements that produce it, and those arrangements are what the test asks about.
What "independent" actually means
Three statements in the booklet carry the whole idea.
Appointed by government, but not removable by it
Judges and magistrates are appointed by the government. But the government cannot take their jobs away if it disagrees with their decisions.
That is the mechanism. Independence is not achieved by keeping government out of appointments — government does appoint. It is achieved by removing the government's ability to punish a judge for ruling against it. A judge who cannot be dismissed for an unwelcome decision is free to make one.
If you learn one sentence from this topic, learn that one. It answers questions that otherwise look like they require legal knowledge.
No one can tell a judge what to decide
The judge or magistrate is the highest authority in a court. They are independent, and no one can tell them what to decide.
Note "highest authority in a court" — within the courtroom, the judge or magistrate outranks everyone present, including officials of the government that appointed them.
Courts decide only on the evidence before them
Courts can only base their decision on the evidence before them.
This is a real constraint rather than a platitude. A court is not deciding what it believes generally, or what public opinion favours, or what a government prefers. It is deciding what the evidence in that case establishes.
What a court does
A court will decide if a person has or has not broken the law, and decide the penalty.
Both halves matter, and the second is where questions get interesting once juries enter the picture. In a criminal trial with a jury, the jury decides whether the person is guilty or not guilty, and the judge decides the penalty. A court will use a jury in some cases; a jury is a group of ordinary Australian citizens chosen at random from the general population, and the judge explains the law to them.
So "the court decides the penalty" and "the jury decides guilt" are not in conflict. The jury is part of the court, performing one function within it.
Innocent until proven guilty, and the right to a lawyer
Two protections are stated plainly:
- In Australia's court system, people are considered innocent until they are found guilty in a court.
- Every person has the right to be represented by a lawyer in court.
The first is one of the clearest connections between this section and the rule of law, which holds that all Australians are equal in relation to the law and no person or group is above it. A presumption of innocence applied to everyone is that principle in operation. Our guide to the rights of an Australian citizen covers the wider set of protections that sit alongside these.
Where the police fit
The booklet treats law enforcement separately from the courts, and the distinction is deliberate.
Also independent of government
The police maintain peace and order in the community, and it is their job to protect life and property. They are independent of the government.
If the police believe someone has broken the law, they can arrest them and bring them before a court. The police may give evidence in court — but the court decides whether a person is guilty or not.
That last sentence is the one to hold. Police investigate, arrest and give evidence. They do not determine guilt. A question offering "the police decide" as an option is testing exactly this.
State forces and the Australian Federal Police
The states and the Northern Territory have their own police forces, which deal with crimes under state and territory laws.
Australia also has a national police force, the Australian Federal Police. The AFP investigates crimes against federal laws — the booklet gives drug trafficking, crimes against national security and crimes against the environment as examples — and is also responsible for general police work in the Australian Capital Territory.
That last detail is a favourite of question writers, because it is specific and easily overlooked. The ACT does not have its own separate police force in the way the states do; the AFP does general policing there.
Bribery
In Australia it is a serious crime to bribe the police. It is a crime even to offer a bribe to a police officer.
The booklet also notes that the police and the community have a good relationship in Australia, and that you can report crimes and seek assistance from your local police.
Both points belong to the same idea: policing here is meant to be approachable and uncorrupted, and attempting to buy an outcome is itself an offence rather than merely a failed attempt at one.
How this area is tested
Questions tend to probe who decides what. A quick mental map handles most of them:
- Police — investigate, arrest, give evidence. Independent of government. Do not decide guilt.
- Jury — where one is used, decides guilty or not guilty on the evidence.
- Judge or magistrate — highest authority in the court, explains the law to the jury, decides the penalty, cannot be told what to decide, cannot be sacked for the decision.
- Government — appoints judges and magistrates. Cannot remove them over their decisions, and cannot direct them.
Read down that list and the answer to most court questions falls out of it.
Check yourself
- Who appoints judges and magistrates?
- Can the government remove a judge for making a decision it dislikes?
- What can a court base its decision on?
- Who is the highest authority in a court?
- Until when is a person considered innocent?
- What right does every person have in court?
- Are the police independent of the government?
- Which police force does general police work in the Australian Capital Territory?
- Is offering a bribe to a police officer a crime, or only paying one?
Before the test
Learn the appointment-and-removal sentence, learn who decides guilt versus penalty, and learn where the AFP operates. Those three cover the great majority of what this section is asked about.
Our study guide works through the testable sections in order if you want the government and law material as a single sequence. Home Affairs publishes the booklet and revises it periodically, so use the current edition on the official website as your source of truth.