Requests by litigants for judges to disqualify themselves from presiding over cases were largely denied last year, in a raft of decisions containing lessons for litigants weighing up their own recusal bids in 2023.
The Albanese government is inviting submissions on a federal judicial commission tasked with dealing with alleged misconduct by judges, saying the commission will strive for transparency and will not adopt a disciplinary model.
Multi-million dollar claims of sexual harassment by two associates of a former Victoria Supreme Court judge have been settled by the state out of court.
The Albanese government has vowed to abolish and replace the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, saying it has been “fatally compromised” by the former government which allegedly appointed political allies who had no expertise.
A senior barrister at the helm of important insurance test cases has been appointed to the Federal Court bench, along with two state court judges.
The president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has resigned only eight months after her appointment to the top job by the former federal government.
A historic $99 million package has been committed for legal programs for First Nations people in the Albanese government’s inaugural budget, which also earmarks $263 million to establish a national anti-corruption commission and scope out a federal judicial commission.
The Supreme Court of Victoria has been called out in a report into sexually inappropriate behavior and bullying by judges as an “extremely hierarchical” workplace that has all the risk factors for harassment.
The use of advertisements to find eager applicants to fill federal judicial vacancies has been foreshadowed by the Attorney-General as he promises to bring more transparency and integrity to the process for appointing judges.
For many in the legal profession the choice of Justice Jayne Jagot to replace the outgoing Justice Patrick Keane on the High Court, heralding a new era of judicial diversity on the top bench, was hardly a surprise.