Court Observation Report: A Visit to Perth Magistrate Court, Australia

This report is a detailed account of a student's observation at the Magistrate Court in Perth, Western Australia. The student visited the court on October 5, 2019, and observed a case involving an Indian taxi driver charged with a traffic violation (parking in a restricted zone). The report describes the court's security procedures, the courtroom setup, and the interactions between the judge, the traffic officer, and the accused. The officer presented photographic evidence, and the driver provided a defense. The judge ultimately fined the driver. The report also touches upon the Australian welfare system, highlighting the government's role in ensuring fair judgments and addressing societal issues. The report references relevant legislation, including the Magistrates Court Act 2004 (WA) and the Parking Local Law 2010. It also provides an overview of the levels of managing laws in Australia, including common law, the Constitution, and legislation.

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Running Head: Welfare Law
COURT OBSERVATION REPORT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Running Head: Welfare Law
The prevalence of law and order is the ultimate goal in each region around the globe. In
this study case, Perth, located in Western Australia, also ensures that its citizens are aware of
substantial justice. A court is encamped with official people who listen to the evidence and
release prosecution to the people accordingly (Parker, 2017), including solution to after that.
The Magistrate court in Perth, Western Australia can be categorized into two (De Bortoli,
Coles, & Dolan, 2015);
 Criminal: handles offense based issues.
 Civil: deals with claims for debts, damages up to 75,000$, residential tenancy
amounting up to $10,000, and also property recovery claims.
Court visit provides a significant knowledge about the court affairs and the manner
the cases are dealt inside the court room by the magistrates. It is a great experience for the
law students where they are able to apply the theoretical knowledge in reality. As a part of the
court visit assignment, I paid a visit to the Magistrate Court of Perth, Western Australia
(Potter, 2018). The experience that I got from my recent visit is elaborated in the later part of
the assignment.
I went to the Magistrate Court of Perth on 5th October 2019 at about 10am. I was there
till 1pm. Upon reaching the court, I had to undergo a security check. The security guards
asked me to deposit my cell phone and all other belongings. This was done to ensure the
security and safety in the court premises. The court is situated at 501 Hay St, Perth WA 6000,
Australia.
I was further asked by the security person to keep the cell phone in the silent mode so
that the court affairs are not affected anyway. The court I visited was constructed as per the
provisions enumerated in the Magistrates Court Act 2004 (WA). The court visited is a court

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Running Head: Welfare Law
of record as well as the inferior category. This court also has civil jurisdiction according to
the Magistrates Court (Civil Proceedings) Act 2004 (WA).
After going through the security check, I entered into room numbered 37 at 3rd floor
and was able to gather a seat inside the room. The moment the judge entered inside the room
all the people present inside stood up and kept standing until the judge took his seat. The
judge sat on the front chair and the accused person was standing on the right hand side.
The accused here is an Indian taxi driver. The case involved a petty case where the
driver was given an infringement ticket as he breached traffic regulation. He was accused of
parking his commercial vehicle (taxi) in the restricted loading ticket. Apart from the driver,
the traffic officer who gave him the ticket also accompanied him in the court. The judge
asked the officer to explain the charge with which the driver was charged.
The trial began after both the driver as well as the officer introduced themselves to
one another. He said that the driver parked his taxi in the loading zone. The traffic officer
shot two pictures of the taxi in that position from the backside and the front side. After the
driver saw that the officer was clicking pictures, he drove his car from the L zone. The officer
informed him that he was accused of breaching s 2.8 provided under the Parking Local Law
2010 under Local Government Act 1995. As per this section, no one is allowed to park or
even stop his non- commercial or authorised car in the L zone for period of time exceeding
the time limit mentioned in the sign present there. When no time is given on the sign, then the
time limit to be considered is thirty minutes. But there is a limitation on this rule which states
that the said section is not applicable on commercial vehicle or when the driver has stopped
his vehicle for the purpose of unloading products or goods to or from the vehicle or when the
vehicle is an unauthorised one. This provision was explained to him. This showed that a fair
trial was being held in this case. The officer said that his vehicle was a non- commercial one

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Running Head: Welfare Law
and thus he violated the section. The pictures clicked by the officer were handed over to the
judge for his kind perusal.
The judge asked the driver to provide defences against the allegation. He said that he
stopped his taxi to pick the customers but the police said that he did not find any customer
getting in or out of his taxi which was proved by the pictures. The judge asked him to state
whether he parked in L zone to which he said yes. Finally the driver was fined with 200
dollars for the violation of the traffic rule and he lost 2 points due to this.
The Australian Welfare System entirely refers to the key findings which are drawn
from a range of grouped and analyzed data (Cheers, 2019). The report has entirely helped the
state to figure out certain phenomena and also provide the right solutions to the problems,
more so when it comes to issues pertaining to children. For example, a case study recently
established by the system indicates that $60 million is the cost of violence against women and
their children. Statistics also show that the cases brought before children’s court, 65% of the
cases are well solved without any party involved feeling that there was a misjudgement.
The government of Australia has played a massive role in ensuring that the court systems
within the state-administered a right judgment. This has been achieved as the government has
created bodies which ensures that work is expertly done, for example, reducing the cases of
corruption in the courts by employing professional court personnel and also educating the
public on their legal rights. In Perth, the judgment administered to cases is 70% qualified
justice as statistics show from the last ten years. Generally, the Courts in Australia has its
levels of managing laws in the country (Barnes, Hyatt, Angel, Strang, & Sherman, 2015),
these include the common law of Australia which comes from the decision of the judges, the
Constitution of Australia and the legislation enacted by the federal parliament and
parliaments of the states and territories of Australia.

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Running Head: Welfare Law
Reference
Barnes, G. C., Hyatt, J. M., Angel, C. M., Strang, H., & Sherman, L. W. (2015). Comparing
levels of observed procedural justice in the reintegrative shaming experiments.
Cheers, B. (2019).Social care in rural Australia.
De Bortoli, L., Coles, J., & Dolan, M. (2015). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
in child protection.
Local Government Act 1995
Magistrates Court (Civil Proceedings) Act 2004 (WA).
Magistrates Court Act 2004 (WA).
Parking Local Law 2010
Parker, R. B. (2017). A definition of privacy.
Potter, D. (2018). A view from the bench: Magistrates courts in Western Australia: Part one-
navigating conveyor-belt justice in the general lists. Brief, 45(6), 6.