The rapidly growing tragedy in Afghanistan will wreak havoc in many parts of that country and, no doubt, the pillars of an emerging democracy will be damaged if not destroyed. One of those pillars is the judiciary and the judges who have been working to uphold the rule of law are in extreme peril. Within [&hellip...
Last month, two women judges were assassinated in Kabul as they were on their way to their posts in the Supreme Court. Judges Zakia Herawi and Qadria Yasini were murdered in broad daylight while they were in an official car on the way to their work at the Supreme Court. The perpetrators of these violent [&hellip...
Australian judges and magistrates have a new President of their professional association. Justice Glenn Martin, a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, has been elected President of the Judicial Conference of Australia (JCA). The JCA is the representative body for judges and magistrates in all courts throughout Australia. Justice Martin has served as Vice [&hellip...
The Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of Australia (JCA) today approved the issuing of the following statement. The JCA condemns sexual harassment wherever it occurs and no less if it concerns the judiciary. Everyone is entitled to feel safe and to be treated with fairness and respect in their place of work. Sexual harassment [&hellip...
[NOTE: To date, this letter has yet to be published] In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on 10 June 2020 (page 19), Teela Reid, described as a lawyer and Wiradjuri/Wailwan woman, wrote (among other things): “We need systemic change to eliminate institutional racism within the courts.” The Judicial Conference of Australia (JCA) takes [&hellip...
[NOTE: to date, this article has yet to be published] In an article in The Weekend Australian on 13 June 2020, Chris Merritt wrote approvingly about the fact that “some inside the Morrison government” apparently think it would be a good idea to rely on “independent vetting of candidates for judicial office aimed at weeding [&hellip...
[published in The Australian, on 20 March 2020] The JCA appreciates the opportunity given to us in The Australian on 28 February 2020 to air concerns it has about the tenor of the debate surrounding the High Court decision in the aliens power case. It is important for issues arising from that case to be publicly [&hellip...
[published in The Australian with the heading added by the editor, on 28 February 2020] There has been a plethora of media commentary this week about the decision of the majority of the High Court in Love v Commonwealth of Australia, referred to as “the aliens case”, much of it hysterical. [these words deleted by [&hellip...
The President of the Australian association of judges and magistrates, Justice Judith Kelly, has responded to, what she called, “the flood of emotion and tsunami of articles following the High Court decision in the Pell case”. Justice Kelly said that “Some of the commentary directed at the Victorian Court of Appeal has been inaccurate and [&hellip...
After careful consideration, the decision has been made by both the JCA and the JANZ to postpone the Colloquium, which was to have been held in Auckland in early October of this year, to the same time in 2021. We are obviously very disappointed that we have had to make this decision, but current and [&hellip...
