District court

District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations. These include:

Australia

District Court is the name given to the intermediate court in most Australian States. They hear indictable (serious) criminal offences excluding treason, murder and, in some States, manslaughter. Their civil jurisdiction is also intermediate, typically being for civil disputes where the amount claimed is greater than a $75 000 but less than $750 000. The limits vary between Australian States. In Victoria, the equivalent Court is called the County Court. Below them is the Magistrates' Courts, known as the Local Court in New South Wales. Above them are the State Supreme Courts.

Austria

Austria has some 200 district, or local, courts, which decide minor civil and criminal cases.

Finland

Finland has 27 district courts (käräjäoikeus/tingsrätt), which deal with criminal cases, civil cases and petitionary matters. Each court is headed by the Chief Judge and other District Judges. In certain cases, the district court may also have Lay Judges. The cases are handled and resolved either in a session or in chambers. In simple cases decisions can be made by notaries.

District court (Scotland)

A district court was the least authoritative type of criminal court in Scotland. The court operated under summary procedure and dealt primarily with minor criminal offences. District Courts have been replaced with justice of the peace courts.

History

District courts were introduced in 1975, as part of the local government reorganisation process as a replacement for Burgh Police Courts and sat in each local authority area under summary procedure only. The courts were each run by the local authority within whose jurisdiction it operated. Each court comprised one or more Justices of the Peace — lay magistrates appointed by Ministers — who sat singly or in threes; a qualified legal assessor acted as clerk of court.

Role

They handled many cases of breach of the peace, minor assaults, petty theft, and offences under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. However, they could handle any offence that could competently be dealt with under summary procedure. Their sentencing powers were limited to a fine in excess of £2,500 or imprisonment of up to 60 days. In practice, most offences were dealt with by a fine.

District Courts of New Zealand

The District Courts of New Zealand (Māori: Ngā Kōti ā Rōhe) are New Zealand's main trial courts. The District Courts can hear civil claims up to $200,000 ($500,000 if recovery of land is claimed) and most criminal cases. There are 66 District Courts throughout New Zealand and the vast majority of both civil and criminal actions in New Zealand are commenced in a District Court. The District Courts are governed by the District Courts Act 1947 (formerly titled the Magistrates' Courts Act 1947) as well as the District Court Rules which are periodically revised by the Rules Committee (last revised 2014).

The District Courts were established in 1980 to replace Magistrates Courts, which had dealt with minor criminal matters and civil claims since 1893. The establishment of the District Courts was the result of the recommendations made in the 1978 Royal Commission on the Courts. report. District Courts were given an expanded jurisdiction and the Family Court was created as a division of the District Court in 1981.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka (/sriːˈlɑːŋkə, -ˈlæŋkə/ or ⁱ/ʃriː-/;Sinhalese - ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, Tamil Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon (/sᵻˈlɒnˌ seɪ-ˌ siː-/), is an island country in South Asia near south-east India.

Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest. Its documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II.

A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, and languages. In addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC. The country's recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when Sri Lankan military defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009.

Sri Lankan

Sri Lankan can refer to: