New legislation to strengthen judicial independence

The independence of Victoria’s judiciary will be strengthened by the abolition of acting judges and magistrates under legislation being brought into Parliament today.

Attorney-General Robert Clark said the Courts Legislation Amendment (Reserve Judicial Officers) Bill was an important step in delivering on a key election commitment to strengthen judicial independence.

“The previous Labor Government introduced a system of acting judges in which persons who had never served in judicial office, could be appointed as an acting judge or magistrate,” Mr Clark said.

“This system made acting judges and magistrates dependent for work and income on the government of the day, and gave rise to the perception that they could be expected to bring down decisions favourable to the government of the day in order to secure re-appointment,” Mr Clark said.

“Labor’s acting judges regime was widely condemned by legal professional associations, and the Supreme Court refused to agree to the appointment of acting judges under the regime.

“This Bill will abolish Labor’s acting judges regime and replace it with a regime under which only retired and other former tenured judges and magistrates, and interstate judges and magistrates, will be eligible for appointment as reserve judges or magistrates.

“The Bill has been developed in consultation with the judiciary and is a significant step forward as part of ongoing reforms to strengthen an independent judiciary as one of the most important safeguards in our justice system,” Mr Clark said.