The Magistrates Court is the first level of the Queensland Courts system and hears about 95% of court cases. Most criminal cases are first heard in this court in some form. Most civil actions are also heard here.
Unlike the Supreme and District Courts, Magistrates Courts have no jury. Therefore, the magistrate makes all decisions in criminal matters, including any penalty.
The magistrate also makes all decisions in civil matters, including an order that one side pay the other money or perform certain actions to rectify a problem.
Magistrates Courts can hear cases in around 130 locations throughout Queensland.
What the court deals with
A person charged with a criminal offence must be brought before the Magistrates Court as a soon as possible after being charged.
The Magistrates Court deals with a range of offences including:
- less serious offences (summary offences), such as traffic infringements
- minor offences, such as shoplifting or disorderly behaviour
- more serious offences, such as burglary, assault, fraud and drugs.
Where the offence is more serious, the magistrate may commit the case to the District Court or Supreme Court for sentence or trial.
The Magistrates Court deals with civil cases if the amount in dispute is $150,000 or less. The District and Supreme Courts deals with amounts larger than this.
You can read more about what happens in civil cases involving money disputes.
Do you have Magistrates Court documents that need to be served?
Allnorth QLD Services is able to serve Magistrates Court documents for you in the far north QLD region. If you have documents that need to be served, you can contact us here
*Disclaimer – The above information was taken from the Court website as accurate in September 2021. If any changes are made by the court from that date they may not be reflected in this post.
