30.04.2021
Judicial Impartiality Consultation Paper Released
Today the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) released a Consultation Paper for the review of Judicial Impartiality, and is calling for submissions on its questions and reform proposals. In Australia, judicial independence and impartiality are seen as fundamental to the common law system of adversarial trial, to the exercise of judicial power under the Australian …
Read more30.04.2021
Judicial Impartiality: Consultation Paper (CP 1, 2021)
The ALRC seeks stakeholder submissions on 25 questions and reform proposals in relation to judicial impartiality and the law on bias. The Terms of Reference for this Inquiry ask the ALRC to consider whether: the law about actual or apprehended bias relating to judicial decision-making is sufficient and appropriate to maintain public confidence in the …
Read more29.04.2021
The Fair-Minded Observer and its Critics (JI7)
This paper considers the test used to decide when a judge will be disqualified from hearing a case because there is a risk that people might think they might be biased. The notion of judicial impartiality is so central to confidence in the administration of justice that the law has developed this mechanism — disqualification …
Read more29.04.2021
Cognitive and Social Biases in Judicial Decision-Making (JI6)
This paper aims to shed light on the psychology behind the traditionally ‘opaque exercise of judging’. First, the paper explains how heuristics, attitudes, and stereotypes may influence (and bias) human decision-making. It then discusses research that has found that judges are likely to be vulnerable to many of the ordinary cognitive and social biases that …
Read more28.04.2021
Ethics, Professional Development, and Accountability (JI5)
This background paper briefly examines the relationship between judicial ethics, professional development, impartiality, and accountability. It then provides a survey of existing ethical infrastructure, professional development standards, and mechanisms to respond to judicial misconduct and incapacity relating to the federal judiciary. This is one in a series of background papers produced by the Australian Law Reform Commission …
Read more20.04.2021
Webinars/Events
Past Events Webinar – Without Fear or Favour: Responses to the ALRC Report on Judicial Impartiality On Thursday 29 September 2022, the Australian Law Reform Commission hosted a event featuring the Attorney-General’s address, which delivered the Australian Government’s response to the ALRC’s final report and recommendations in the Judicial Impartiality Inquiry, followed by reflections on …
Read more20.04.2021
Webinars/Events
View upcoming and past events relating to the ALRC Financial Services Legislation Inquiry.
Read more16.04.2021
Indigenous incarceration: ALRC recommendations endorsed
The New South Wales Select Committee on the high level of First Nations People in custody and oversight and review of deaths in custody (the ‘Committee’) has called on the NSW Government to take urgent action to address the disproportionate rates of incarceration of First Nations people in New South Wales. As the Chief Justice …
Read more16.04.2021
Conceptions of Judicial Impartiality in Theory and Practice (JI4)
This background paper provides an overview of scholarship and commentary on judicial impartiality, summarising the common conceptual understandings of judicial impartiality and the interactions of these conceptions with the practical exercise of judgecraft in Australia. It forms the basis for understanding some of the underlying tensions raised in a series of background papers that explore …
Read more14.04.2021
ALRC InBrief | Invitation: Financial Services Legislation Webinars
Invitation: Financial Services Legislation Webinars These free, interactive webinars presented in partnership with Wolters Kluwer CCH Learning are part of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s current inquiry into the potential simplification of corporate and financial services regulation in Australia. WEBINAR: The Regulatory Ecosystem for Financial Services in Australia MONDAY 17 MAY 2021 at 1.00PM AEST Can Australian …
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