On 10 December 2020, the Attorney General, the Honourable Vickie Chapman MP, announced that Justices Trish Kelly, David Lovell and Sam Doyle had been appointed to the Court of Appeal. Justices Mark Livesey and Chris Bleby had been appointed in January and May 2020.
The Attorney General also announced that the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) Amendment Act 2019 will come into operation on 1 January 2021.
Sittings of the Court of Appeal
Sittings of the Court of Appeal commenced in February 2021.
The Court of Appeal will sit in two terms between February and June and then between August and December each year. The Court of Appeal will not sit in January or July each year.
Each month of sittings will be divided, very broadly, into a first week of civil appeals, a second week of criminal sentence appeals and a third week of criminal convictions appeals.
Those members of the Court of Appeal not occupied with sittings will consider applications for leave to appeal, whether these be civil or criminal appeals.
Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal of South Australia
By the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) Amendment Act 2019, the Supreme Court Act 1935 has been amended so that the Court is now constituted of the General Division and the Court of Appeal.
By s 7(1a), the Court of Appeal consists of the Chief Justice, the President and the puisne judges of the court that are appointed to the Court of Appeal, the masters and the judicial registrars. By s 9B, the President “is responsible, subject to the Chief Justice’s directions, for the administration of the Court of Appeal”. By s 45(3a), the Court of Appeal will sit at such times and places as the President may direct.
By s 19B, the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear and determine all appeals from a single judge and, subject to the Supreme Court Act or any other Act, and to the rules of court, all appeals from a single judge sitting in chambers. As may be expected, the Court of Appeal also has jurisdiction to hear and determine all questions of law referred to or reserved for the consideration of the Court of Appeal.
By s 19C, the Court of Appeal is constituted of not less than 3 judges when hearing and determining any matter. In accordance with any Act or rules of court, the Court of Appeal may be constituted by 2 judges. In such circumstances, a decision of the Court is to be in accordance with the opinion of those judges, or, if they are divided, the proceedings must be reheard and determined by the Court of Appeal constituted by 3 judges (including, if practicable, the 2 judges who first heard the proceedings).
By s 19D, in hearing and determining matters within the jurisdiction conferred by s 19B, the Court of Appeal has, and may exercise, any jurisdiction and powers that the court has in its General Division, or that were exercisable by the Full Court immediately before the commencement of s 4(2) of the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) Amendment Act 2019.
By s 47, there is facility for the Chief Justice and the President to agree that a General Division judge may act as an acting judge in the Court of Appeal for a “suitable period”, and vice versa. It is necessary for the particular judge to agree to undertake acting duties. The Chief Justice may then, by instrument in writing, authorise the judge to undertake acting duties for a specified period.
Other Australian Courts of Appeal
The first Australian Court of Appeal was established in New South Wales in 1966. The Queensland Court of Appeal was established in 1991, the Victorian Court of Appeal was established in 1994 and the Western Australian Court of Appeal was established in 2005.
These arrangements generally replaced the hearing of appeals by a “Full Court” made up of puisne judges allocated by the Chief Justice for particular sittings and hearings.
The New South Wales Court of Appeal operates in a manner different to all other Courts of Appeal. The judges appointed to that Court sit routinely on civil matters. Criminal matters are heard by the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal which still operates on a “Full Court” basis, with judges allocated from the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judges of Common Law and Equity, and from the Common Law Division (where criminal trials are heard). Common Law Division judges are not allocated to appeals from other Common Law Division judges.
Otherwise, Courts of Appeal around Australia routinely hear both criminal and civil matters. Criminal matters in those courts account for well over half the caseload.
In New South Wales, the Court of Appeal comprises the Chief Justice, the President and 11 judges, plus acting judges. In Victoria, apart from the Chief Justice and the President, there are 11 judges.
At six judges (including the Chief Justice) the South Australian Court of Appeal is slightly smaller Western Australian Court of Appeal, which has eight judges including the President and Chief Justice, and the same size as the Queensland Court of Appeal which has six judges including the President and Chief Justice.
| The Hon Chief Justice Kourakis | Send email to chambers | |
| The Hon President Livesey | (08) 8204 0400 | send email to chambers |
| The Hon Justice S Doyle | (08) 8204 0394 | send email to chambers |
| The Hon Justice Bleby | (08) 8204 1253 | send email to chambers |
| The Hon Justice David | (08) 8204 0247 | send email to chambers |
| The Hon Justice Stanley | (08) 8204 0443 | send email to chambers |
25 & 27 February 2025 – “New in Law Address”, Flinders University Law School, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Flinders Law School - New in Law Address.pdf | Download |
22 February 2025 – “Judicial Notice in Australia: is it really that obvious?”, South Australian Bar Association Annual Conference 2025, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Judicial notice in Australia.pdf | Download |
14 February 2025 – “What do Judges want?”, The Law Society of South Australia, Forum 2025 – The Hon Justice Livesey, The Hon Justice Bleby and The Hon Justice Stein
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| What do Judges want.pdf | Download |
5 December 2024 – “Australian Insurance Law Association, 2024 Year in Review”, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| AILA 2024 Year in Review - Insurance Law.pdf | Download |
3 December 2024 – “Adelaide Law School 150 Club and the John Bray Alumni Network”, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| John Bray Alumni Network - Adelaide Law School 150 Club.pdf | Download |
25 October 2024 – “Litigating the Collapse of the Bond Group”, Law Council of Australia, Insolvency and Restructuring Workshop, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Litigating the Collapse of the Bond Group.pdf | Download |
30 September 2024 – “Information for self-represented persons”
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Court of Appeal - Information for self-represented persons - 30 September 2024.pdf | Download |
19 September 2024 – “When should judges be held accountable or worse, liable?”, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| When should judges be held accountable or worse liable (paper).pdf | Download |
19 September 2024 – “Judicial intervention and arbitration: A comparative analysis of the regimes in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas”, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Judicial intervention and arbitration (paper).pdf | Download |
17 September 2024 – “The cost of everything but the value of nothing: What goes wrong when governments starve the justice system of funding”, The Hon Justice Livesey
16 September 2024 – “Judicial wellness and wellbeing”, IBA Judges Forum/Professional Wellbeing Commission
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Judicial Wellness and Wellbeing (slides).pdf | Download |
August 2024 – “Appellate Advocacy”, South Australian Bar Association, Bar Readers’ Course, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Appellate Advocacy.pdf | Download |
August 2024 – “Interdependence of the Bar and Bench”, South Australian Bar Association, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Interdependence of the Bar and Bench.pdf | Download |
May 2024 – “An Independent Bar and an Independent Judiciary: Perspectives from Judges in ICAB Jurisdictions”, World Bar Conference 2024, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| An Independent Bar and an Independent Judiciary.pdf | Download |
September 2023 – Justice in Peril: Swiped – Trial and Social Media, Legal Services Commission Conference 2023, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Swiped - Trial and Social Media.pdf | Download |
July 2023 – “Fresh and compelling: mercy or a substantial miscarriage of justice? Second and subsequent appeals”, Australian Association of Crown Prosecutors Annual Conference 2023, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Second and subsequent appeals.pdf | Download |
April 2023 – Young Lawyers Breakfast, Law Society of South Australia, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Young Lawyers Breakfast.pdf | Download |
March 2023 – The Late David Haines QC Memorial Lecture, “Judicial Advice to Trustees”, STEP South Australia, 2023 Trusts Symposium, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Judicial Advice to Trustees.pdf | Download |
February 2023 – Welcome Speech, The Adelaide Law School, 140th Anniversary Orientation Session, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Adelaide Law School 140th Anniversary Welcome Speech.pdf | Download |
February 2023 – “Plenary session: Fixing the eyewitness identification mess: I: At the very least, follow the science; II: Better still, start over”, South Australian Bar Association (SABA), Annual Conference 2023, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Plenary session on eyewitness identification.pdf | Download |
January 2023 – “Appeals”, Advanced Criminal Law Elective, University of South Australia, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Appeals - Advanced Criminal Law Elective.pdf | Download |
October 2022, Welcome Speech – Meritas conference with DMAW Lawyers, Adelaide Oval, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Meritas conference.pdf | Download |
September 2022 – “The Court of Appeal, Grounds of Appeal and Written and Oral Submissions”, The Hon Justice Buss, President of the Court of Appeal of Western Australia
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| The Court of Appeal.pdf | Download |
August 2022 – “So you are appealing? Be guided on what to do, and what not to do”, 19th National Family Law Conference, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| So you are appealing. Be guided on what to do, and what not to do.pdf | Download |
August 2022 – “Issues arising from the operation of intermediate Courts of Appeal (Criminal)”, Australian Academy of Law, Supreme Court of South Australia, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Issues arising from the operation of intermediate Courts of Appeal criminal.pdf | Download |
August 2022 – “Appealing to a need for Justice: Stories from the Bench”, The Legal Education Teachers’ Association of South Australia (LETASA), Flinders University, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Appealing to a need for Justice.pdf | Download |
August 2022 – “Advocacy in the profession – is it still just as relevant?”, Law Society Bulletin article, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Advocacy in the profession.pdf | Download |
April 2022 – Opening Night Event, South Australia’s History Festival, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| South Australia's History Festival.pdf | Download |
April 2022 – “The Question of Leave”, 10th AIJA Appellate Judges’ Conference, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| The Question of Leave.pdf | Download |
April 2022 – “Community Leaders Friendship and Dialogue”, Adelaide Convention Centre, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Community Leaders Friendship and Dialogue.pdf | Download |
December 2021 – “Insurance Law – 2021 in Review”, Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA), The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Insurance Law - 2021 in Review.pdf | Download |
November 2021 – “Issues arising from the operation of intermediate courts of appeal (civil)”, Australian Academy of Law, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Issues arising from the operation of intermediate courts of appeal civil.pdf | Download |
April 2021 – “The New Court of Appeal for South Australia”, Australian Academy of Law presentation, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| The New Court of Appeal of South Australia.pdf | Download |
February 2021 – “The Court of Appeal of South Australia”, South Australian Bar Association Annual Conference, Novotel Barossa Valley Resort, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| The Court of Appeal of South Australia.pdf | Download |
December 2020 – “Infrequent forays into the Family Courts of Australia: Past perspectives of a commercial counsel”, Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Infrequent forays into the Family Courts of Australia.pdf | Download |
December 2020 – “The Issue of Commorientes”, STEP SA, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| The Issue of Commorientes.pdf | Download |
November 2020 – “Summary Judgment and Dismissal”, South Australian Wine Centre, Judicial Development Day, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Summary Judgment and Dismissal.pdf | Download |
March 2020 – Opening Address, “BEAR Necessities”, Superannuation Lawyers’ Conference 2020, The Hon Justice Livesey
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| BEAR Necessities.pdf | Download |
January 2020 – Further developments in the Court of Appeal of South Australia – Criminal appeals
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Further Developments in the Court of Appeal.pdf | Download |
January 2020 – Developments in the Court of Appeal of South Australia
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| Developments in the Court of Appeal.pdf | Download |