A review of the laws relating to impartiality and bias as they apply to the federal judiciary.
22.06.2021
Invitation: Judicial Impartiality Webinar
Judicial Impartiality eNews 22 June 2021 Webinar – Judicial Impartiality Q&A: Exploring Viewpoints Join us as we explore different perspectives on proposals and questions raised in the Judicial Impartiality Consultation Paper. Date: Monday 19 July 2021 at 1.00PM – 2.30PM AEST In this webinar, we will discuss views from the bench, the profession, academia, and the …
Read more16.06.2021
Cognitive Biases, Social Biases, and the Law
How does the law on bias square with what we now know about human decision-making? How does the law on bias fit with what we know about how judges make decisions and the conscious and unconscious influences on those decisions? Background Paper JI6 explores the expanded knowledge we now have about how human decision-making works. …
Read more14.06.2021
Webinar – Judicial Impartiality Q&A: Exploring Viewpoints
Monday 19 July 2021 at 1.00PM – 2.30PM AEST Join us as we explore different perspectives on proposals and questions raised in the Judicial Impartiality Consultation Paper. In this webinar, we will discuss views from the bench, the profession, academia, and the community on proposals made and questions raised by the ALRC’s Judicial Impartiality Consultation …
Read more02.06.2021
The Judge, the Public, and the Test for Apprehended Bias
Does the law on actual and apprehended bias remain appropriate and sufficient to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice? Where a party to litigation before the courts has concerns that the judge presiding over the matter may be biased, the party has two options. The first is to try to show that the …
Read more24.05.2021
Who Judges Whether a Judge is Biased?
Are the current mechanisms for raising and deciding allegations of actual or apprehended bias sufficient and appropriate? When a concern about judicial impartiality arises in the course of litigation, parties may raise the issue following conventional procedures that centre on a self-disqualification model. The judge who is the focus of the claim of bias then …
Read more11.05.2021
The Inquiry’s Approach
Is the law on actual and apprehended bias appropriate and sufficient to maintain public confidence in the justice system? Judicial impartiality is a core value of our legal system — central to the proper functioning of the courts and key to litigant (and public) perceptions of fairness. Australian courts have long recognised that the ‘public …
Read more11.05.2021
Spotlight On
The ALRC was asked to consider the laws on impartiality and bias as they relate to the federal judiciary. This series of articles highlights the ALRC’s preliminary views presented in the Consultation Paper, supported by a set of background papers that provide a high-level overview of key principles and research on Inquiry-related topics. Submission were …
Read more30.04.2021
Judicial Impartiality eNews | Consultation Paper Released
Judicial Impartiality eNews 30 April 2021 Consultation Paper Released Today the Australian Law Reform Commission released a Consultation Paper for the review of Judicial Impartiality. The ALRC now invites submission in response to 25 questions and proposals in relation to judicial impartiality and the law on bias. As part of the Inquiry process, broad community consultation is sought. …
Read more30.04.2021
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 …
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