Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry into Australia’s Judicial System and the Role of Judges

The Judicial Issues Working Group developed the Law Council's response to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry into Australia's Judicial System and the Role of Judges. In response to the terms of reference to this inquiry the Working Group:

• advocated for the adoption of the Law Council's updated judicial appointments protocol;
• argued that that on balance it appears that the imposition of a mandatory retirement age on judicial service achieves a number of valid public policy objectives;
• stated that governments should not be tempted to make acting or part time appointments in order to avoid their responsibility to provide an adequately resourced fulltime judiciary; and
• stated that while it supports the development of independent and transparent mechanisms for dealing with judicial complaints, it is not in favor of a national judicial complaints handling system until a workable model is put forward.

A copy of the Law Council's submission is located below.

• Inquiry into Australia's Judicial System and the Role of Judges
  Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, 30 April 2009