The Gradual Transfer of Legislative Power from the Imperial Government to the Colonies, States and the Commonwealth

Australian Developments in Legislative Independence:
1787 to the 1820s
After European settlement in 1788, Australia was politically organized as a number of separate British colonies, eventually six in all. New South Wales was governed largely as a military autocracy with few formal constraints upon the political power of the Governor. There was no provision for trial by a jury of one's peers, but only trial by military courts. The early courts comprised a judge-advocate appointed by the British government and a panel of (six or more) military officers. …