12.08.2022
Australian Public Law Blog Article by Dr William Isdale and Sarah Fulton
This post is part of a special series that the Australia Public Law Blog is featuring on the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report on Judicial Impartiality.
Last week, the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report, Without Fear or Favour: Judicial Impartiality and the Law on Bias, was tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament. It provides the first comprehensive review in Australia of the laws, practices and procedures relating to judicial impartiality and bias, and makes 14 recommendations for reform.
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this special AUSPUBLAW forum. The report is the product of the contributions of many, including litigants, judges, legal practitioners, and academics. We hope that the report generates debate and discussion regarding the merits (or otherwise) of the ALRC’s recommendations for reform, and we look forward to reading the contributions of the assembled expert commentators, as they share their views on this blog over the coming weeks.
In this post we provide a short overview of the context for the Judicial Impartiality Inquiry (Inquiry), the consultation views and data that were gathered and analysed by the ALRC, and provide a brief summary of the report’s recommendations.