Lekha G
According to the Law Council of Australia, people who suffer from “Litigation malaise” after years spent in Family Courts may file complaints against judges if an Independent Judicial Committee is established.
The president of the Council, Jacoba Brasch QC has said that a prolonged nature of matters in Family Court and Federal Circuit Court could discourage parties from making complaints, especially when they have to be registered in the Court itself.
Brasch said, “It’s about people having confidence in the system, and people feeling confident that the complaint is properly heard. I’m not being critical of the Chief Justice, that’s the system we’ve currently got. But it’s an extra level of confidence when it’s gone to an independent body.”
Federal Circuit Court Judge Gregory Egan has come under scrutiny for decisions in family law cases, after Judge Salvatore Vasta and Judge Anne Demack.
The Judges who heard appeals of Egan’s decisions said that his conduct of the cases had dismayed them and the orders made by him had no basis in law and further he had ignored the submissions of parties.
The Attorney General, Michaelia Cash is yet to submit her support for an Independent Judicial Commission and the Federal Government has not set aside money in the annual budget for the measure.
The Shadow Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus, supporting the measure said, “The current processes for dealing with complaints about Federal Judges is very cumbersome and we should be seriously looking at establishing a Judicial Commission, as it already exists in a number of states, including Victoria and NSW.”
Barsch further urged to strictly adhere to the act governing judicial appointments that states that any Judge appointed to either division of the new Court must have the “Knowledge, skills, experience and aptitude” to deal with family law matters.
The Family Law Courts are set to undergo a significant transformation by introducing a new two-tier model from September that would recruit 14 new Judges and a 10% increase in the number of Judges dealing with family law matters. There would also be an enormous increase in the number of registrars.