According to a SCOTUSblog interview with Professor Cheryl Saunders of Melbourne Law School, the High Court of Australia was created in 1903, two years after the Constitution took effect. It functions as both an appellate court and a court of original jurisdiction, with some jurisdiction conferred directly by the Constitution and some by legislation. The Court also exercises judicial review, checking legislative and executive actions against the Constitution.
The Court has seven justices, appointed by the governor-general in council, though in practice the attorney-general leads selection and must consult state attorneys-general. Justices serve until age 70, and cases are decided by simple majority; if an appeal is evenly divided, the lower court's decision stands. There is no single opinion writer—each justice writes their own judgment, and readers must compile the majority holding from multiple opinions.
Recent cases of note include the rejection of a common law defense for false imprisonment in immigration detention (Abdel-Hady), invalidation of a regulation imposing curfews on unlawful non-citizens without judicial process (EGH19), and striking down state electoral funding provisions for violating implied political communication freedom (Hopper). Historically, the Court has made landmark rulings on Indigenous land rights (Mabo), the Communist Party ban, and the separation of judicial power. The source provides no comparative perspective beyond describing the Court's operations, so this summary reflects only that single expert account.```json // Wait, the instruction says