Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) Subject as
otherwise provided in this Act, and to any other enactment in force in this
State, the Supreme Court —
(a) is
invested with and shall exercise such and the like jurisdiction, powers, and
authority within Western Australia and its dependencies as the Courts of
Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, or either of them, and the
judges thereof, had and exercised in England at the commencement of the
Supreme Court Ordinance 1861 5 ; and
(b)
shall be at all times a court of oyer and terminer and general gaol delivery
in and for Western Australia and its dependencies; and
(c) is
authorised, empowered, and required to take cognizance of and hold all pleas
and all manner of causes, suits, actions, pleas of the Crown, prosecutions,
and informations, whether civil, criminal, or mixed, with the same and as full
power within Western Australia and its dependencies to hear, judge, determine,
and execute therein, as the Courts of Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas, and
Exchequer, and as justices of oyer and terminer and general gaol delivery, had
in England at the commencement of the Supreme Court Ordinance 1861 5 , and as
shall be necessary for carrying into effect the several jurisdictions, powers,
and authorities committed to the Court, and shall adjudge and determine in all
and every the same matters according to the laws and statutes of the realm of
England in force in Western Australia, the laws and statutes of Western
Australia, and the Acts of the Commonwealth of Australia; and
(d)
shall be a court of equity, with power and authority within Western Australia
and its dependencies —
(i)
to administer justice, and to do, exercise, and perform
all acts, matters, and things necessary for the due execution of such
equitable jurisdiction as, at the commencement of the Supreme Court Ordinance
1861 5 , the Lord Chancellor of England could or lawfully might have done
within the realm of England in the exercise of the jurisdiction to him
belonging; and
(ii)
to appoint guardians and committees of the persons and
estates of infants, lunatics, and persons of unsound mind according to the
order and course observed in England, and for that purpose to inquire into,
hear, and determine by inspection of the person the subject of inquiry, or by
examination on oath or otherwise of the party in whose custody or charge such
person is, or of any other person or persons, or by such other ways and means
by which the truth may be best discovered, and to act in all such cases as
fully and amply to all intents and purposes as the said Lord Chancellor or the
grantee from the Crown of the persons and estates of infants, lunatics, and
persons of unsound mind might lawfully have done at such date.
(2) There shall be
vested in the Supreme Court and the judges thereof all original and appellate
jurisdiction which, under and by virtue of any statute which came into force
in Western Australia after the commencement of the Supreme Court Act 1880 6 ,
and is not repealed, was immediately before the commencement of this Act
vested in or capable of being exercised by the Court or a judge thereof, and
such other jurisdiction as by and under this Act or any subsequent statute or
otherwise is conferred on or vested in the Court and the judges thereof.
(3) The jurisdiction
vested in the Court and the judges thereof shall include all ministerial
powers, duties, and authorities incident to any and every part of such
jurisdiction.
[Section 16 amended: No. 73 of 1948 s. 3; No. 14
of 1991 s. 4.]