Cosgrove Clayton: Judicial Matters Bill — First Reading 
Cosgrove Clayton: Judicial Matters Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:17302] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Associate Minister of Justice) 
 on behalf of the  
Attorney-General 
: I move  
That the Judicial Matters Bill be now read a first time.  
It is my intention that this bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee. The Judicial Matters Bill is an omnibus bill. It makes some important technical amendments to two statutes relating to the judiciary. These amendments will enhance public confidence in the judicial complaints process and ensure that adequate resources are available to meet the growing workload of the judiciary. 
Part 1 of the bill amends the Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Conduct Panel Act 2004. The Office of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner was established by the Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Conduct Panel Act 2004 with effect from 1 August 2005. The office provides the public with a transparent and accessible judicial complaints process. It allows for a proper investigation of matters that may lead to the removal of a judge while adhering to the principle of judicial independence. Mr Ian Haynes was appointed as the first Judicial Conduct Commissioner for a 5-year term in 2005. 
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner’s office receives approximately 100 complaints a year. Of those approximately 80 percent are dismissed. In his annual report to Parliament the commissioner has noted that the most common reason for dismissing a complaint has been that the complaint stems from a complainant’s disagreement with the judge’s decision rather than the judge’s conduct. In the first 2 years four complaints have been referred to the relevant head of bench and resolved through the voluntary internal judicial complaints process. So far the commissioner has not made any recommendation for the appointment of a judicial conduct panel. 
The amendments contained in Part 1 of the bill aim to strengthen the Act’s primary objective of ensuring the prompt handling of judicial complaints. They are based on the commissioner’s recommendations in his 2005-06 and 2006-07 annual reports to Parliament. Currently the Act does not permit the commissioner to delegate the power to conduct a preliminary examination of a complaint. That has caused difficulty where the commissioner has had a conflict of interest regarding a complaint or has been unavailable. The bill enables the appointment of a permanent deputy commissioner to whom the commissioner can delegate his functions in such situations. Where the deputy commissioner has a conflict of interest he or she will be able to refer the complaint to the relevant head of bench or the commissioner as and when appropriate. The bill also allows the commissioner to dispose of a complaint if in all the circumstances further consideration of the complaint is not justified. That is appropriate where the complainant is satisfied following an explanation or an apology from the judge. 
However the bill clarifies that the resolution of a complaint following an apology by the judge will not of itself justify disposal of the complaint. In such cases there may still be a question of conduct that the commissioner may want to refer to the relevant head of bench even if the complainant is satisfied with the outcome. Those provisions will ensure that judicial complaints continue to be handled efficiently and independently. 
Part 2 amends the Judicature Act 1908 by increasing the current statutory cap on the number of associate judge appointments from six to nine. This is the first increase since 1991. The 1986 amendments to the Judicature Act provided for the appointment of Masters of the High Court to provide a more effective and efficient service by clearing the court lists of the smaller miscellaneous matters. Since their inception the jurisdiction of masters has steadily increased from hearing matters such as summary judgment applications to hearing more complex commercial matters such as insolvency proceedings. In 2004 Masters of the High Court were renamed associate judges and secured permanent tenure. Associate judges have a specialist civil jurisdiction and are invaluable in alleviating the workload pressures of judges by undertaking a range of companies and insolvency work. They have extensive jurisdiction in interlocutory matters including summary judgment applications. They also have jurisdiction to assess damages. The increase in the statutory cap will enable future associate judge appointments if and when required without unnecessary legislative delay. This in turn will ensure adequate resources are available for the growing workload of associate judges especially since the commencement of the Insolvency Act 2006. 
The proposed amendments are important improvements that will enhance public confidence in the judicial complaints process and will ensure that adequate resources are available to the judiciary. I commend the bill to the House.