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The Sir Samuel Way Building, the main seat of the District Court of South Australia, as viewed from Victoria Square, Adelaide.

The District Court of South Australia is South Australia's principal trial court. It was established as a court of record by the District Court Act 1991. Prior to that the Court had existed since 1969 under the Local and District Criminal Courts Act 1926.

Judges of the District Court are appointed by the Governor of South Australia on the advice of the Executive Council. Once appointed, they cannot be removed from office except by an address from both houses of the South Australian Parliament. They must retire when they reach the age of 70. Judges of the Industrial Relations Court, the Environment, Resources and Development Court, the Licencing Court and the Youth Court, as well as Masters of the Supreme Court, also formally hold office as District Court Judges. They are not listed on this page (except where they have also served as a District Court Judge).

The work of the Court is divided into four areas: civil, criminal, administrative and disciplinary, and criminal injuries. The District Court can hear most civil and criminal matters except for offences related to murder and treason. It also has jurisdiction over criminal injuries compensation claims. In the administrative and disciplinary division, the Court hears appeals from various government agencies, tribunals and disciplinary bodies. The Court is usually constituted of a single judge sitting alone or with a jury (in criminal trials only). In certain cases a judge may sit with two assessors who, with the judge, determine factual questions while the judge determines questions of law. For ceremonial occasions such as the swearing in of a new judge, the Court sits as a Full Court constituted of all available judges.

The main seat of the Court is the Sir Samuel Way Building in Victoria Square, Adelaide. It also conducts circuits in Mount Gambier, Berri, Port Pirie, Whyalla and Port Lincoln (civil), and Mount Gambier and Port Augusta (criminal).

(Date of appointment appears in brackets.)

• Terence Anthony Worthington (4 December 1997)

• Malcolm Lindsay Robertson (13 June 1996)
• Peter Anthony John Herriman (22 January 1998)
• Andrea Simpson (24 September 1998; Senior Judge of the Youth Court 24 September 1998 - 5 August 2002)
• Geoffrey Louis Muecke (1 April 1999)
• David William Smith (9 September 1999)
• Paul John Rice (3 October 2000)
• Dean Ernest Clayton (3 April 2003)
• Steven Albert Millsteed (19 July 2004)
• Michael Thomas Boylan (7 October 2004)
• Barry Francis Beazley (10 March 2005)
• Gordon Fraser Barrett (19 May 2005)
• Wayne Cromwell Chivell (9 June 2005)
• Marie Elizabeth Shaw (9 June 2005)
• Sydney William Tilmouth (9 June 2005)
• David Cameron Lovell (4 May 2006)
• Rauf Soulio (12 October 2006)
• Kevin Gordon Nicholson (2 November 2006)

• Peter Norman
• Mark Rice
• Anne Bampton

• http://www.courts.sa.gov.au/courts/district/
• District Court of South Australia Judgments