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Handbook for Judicial Officers

The Judicial Commission of NSW welcomes your feedback. Please send your comments by email to: benchbooks@judcom.nsw.gov.au

Table of Contents

Preliminaries

Foreword
International Award
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
Currency

The role of the judicial officer

Independence, accountability and open justice

Who judges the judges, and how should they be judged? The Honourable T F Bathurst AC
“Something more, something less”: the contemporary meaning of open justice The Honourable T F Bathurst AC
Judicial independence — from what and to what end? The Honourable S Kiefel AC
Further references on independence, accountability and open justice

Impartiality and fairness

Impartiality and emotion in judicial work Professor S Roach Anleu and Emerita Professor K Mack
Doing right by “all manner of people” The Honourable T F Bathurst AC and Ms Sarah Schwartz
Attributes of a good judge The Honourable Justice E Kyrou
Further references on impartiality and fairness

Cultural diversity: the role of the judge in ensuring a fair trial The Honourable Justice H Wood
After R v Bayda; R v Namoa (No 8): continuing the dialogue with academics of Islam Mr B Rauf
Explanatory note on the judicial process and participation of Muslims The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC)
Introducing the national online cultural diversity training program The Honourable Mr W Martin AC QC
Further references on diversity

Ethics and conduct

Lawyers and judges: the fifth attribute The Honourable Mr R Sackville AO QC
Trust in the judiciary The Honourable T F Bathurst AC
Shaping legal minds — the ethical mind The Honourable S Kiefel AC
Further references on ethics and conduct

Efficiency, competence, delay and case management

The Penrith District Court approach to efficiency in trial management His Honour Judge S Hanley SC
Fact-finding made easy The Honourable Mr P Young AO QC
Just, quick and cheap? Civil dispute resolution and technology Professor T Sourdin, Dr B Li and Mr A Burke
Delay too often defeats justice The Right Honourable Lord Dyson
Some legal scenery The Honourable A M Gleeson AC
Further references on efficiency and case management

Judicial method

Delivery of judgments

How to develop effective judgment writing The Honourable Mr D Lloyd QC
Five ways to improve your judgment writing Professor J Raymond
Judgment writing in final and intermediate courts of appeal Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC
The architecture of argument Professor J Raymond
Why write judgments The Honourable Justice S Gageler AC
Adequate, sufficient and excessive reasons The Honourable Justice M Weinberg AO
The idea of the professional judge: multiple versus single appellate judgments The Honourable Justice P Keane AC
Further references on delivery of judgments

Communication

The national certification system for the translating and interpreting profession in Australia Mr M Painting
Recommended national standards for working with interpreters in courts and tribunals Stephanie Olbrich
Managing courtroom communication: reflections of an observer Joanna Kalowski
Further references on communication

Legal reasoning

Alternative facts in the courts The Honourable Justice S Gageler AC
The craft of judging and legal reasoning The Honourable Mr Justice Mostyn
Basic categories of argumentation in legal reasoning Professor Douglas Lind

The role of judicial education

Continuing judicial education: the Australian experience The Honourable Justice J Allsop AO
The future of judicial education The Honourable A M Gleeson AC QC
International guiding principles for judicial education Mr E Schmatt AM, PSM
Demystifying judicial commissions The Honourable T F Bathurst AC

Challenges and issues with the role of the judicial officer

Socialising and social media

Judges, cyberspace and social media Her Honour Judge J Gibson
Hastening slowly: what the hare and the tortoise might teach the judiciary about social media Associate Professor J Johnston and Professor A Wallace
Speaking the right media language The Honourable Justice S Rares
Right here waiting for you: the new social media chapter in the Australian Guide to Judicial Conduct Dr Marilyn Bromberg
Further references on socialising and social media

Relationship with legal profession, bullying and sexual harassment

Judicial bullying: the view from the bar Ms K Nomchong SC
Sexual harassment and the judiciary Ms K Nomchong SC
Judicial bullying Mr J Phillips SC
Further references on relationship with legal profession, bullying and sexual harassment:

Actual or apprehended bias and unconscious bias

Judicial education on “gender awareness” in Australia The Honourable Justice J Basten
Without fear or favour, affection or ill will Kate Lumley
The intersection of the Australian law and the Islamic faith: a selection of cases Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC
Does unconscious racial bias affect trial judges? Professor J Rachlinski, Professor S L Johnson, A Wistrich, and Professor C Guthrie
“Judge not, that ye be not judged”: judging judicial decision-making Lord Neuberger
Further references on apprehended bias and unconscious bias

Publicity and social criticism

The idea of the professional judge: the challenges of communication The Honourable Justice P Keane AC
Community confidence in the justice system: the role of public opinion The Honourable T F Bathurst AC
Haters gonna hate: when the public uses social media to comment critically or maliciously about judicial officers Dr M Bromberg and Mr A Ekert
Further references on publicity and social criticism

Stress and vicarious trauma

Australia’s first research measuring judicial stress C Schrever
Judicial stress and judicial bullying The Honourable Mr M Kirby AC CMG
Lifting the judicial veil — vicarious trauma, PTSD and the judiciary Mr D Heilpern
Identifying and combatting judicial stress Mr P Harvey
The psychological impact of judicial work C Schrever, Associate Professor C Hulbert and Professor T Sourdin
A fragile bastion: UNSW judicial traumatic stress study J Hunter, R Kemp, K O’Sullivan and P Vines
Introducing solutions for maintaining positive psychological health: the judicial wellbeing portal E Kennedy
Further references on stress and vicarious trauma

Unrepresented, querulant and vexatious litigants

Dealing with unrepresented litigants in lengthy and complex trials Her Honour Judge Flannery SC
Managing litigants in person The Honourable Justice E Kyrou
The querulant litigant Dr G Lester
Responding to unreasonably persistent litigants Mr C Wheeler
Self-represented litigants: tackling the challenge The Honourable Mr J Faulks.
Further references on unrepresented/querulant and vexatious litigants

Non-adversarial justice

Reflecting on the practice of non-adversarial justice The Honourable Mr W Martin AC QC
ADR, ODR and AI-DR, or do we even need courts anymore? The Honourable T F Bathurst AC
Conciliation and mediation — a practical note Mr M Kimber SC
Further references on non-adversarial justice

Therapeutic jurisprudence and the trauma-informed court

Decolonising the mind: working with transgenerational trauma and First Nations Peoples B O’Neill
Sentencing and disadvantage: the use of research to inform the court Mr N Cowdery AO QC, Professor J Hunter and Ms R McMahon
The trauma-informed courtroom The Honourable Judge P Hora
Adopting a trauma-informed approach in the District Court of NSW His Honour Judge W Hunt
The trauma-informed approach of the Drug Court of NSW His Honour R Dive
The trauma-informed approach of the NSW Youth Koori Court Her Honour Magistrate Susan Duncombe
The trauma-informed barrister Mr S McCarthy
Measuring legal actor contributions in court R Waterworth
The importance of trauma-informed court practice His Honour Magistrate M King
A road less travelled: footprints from trauma His Honour Magistrate M Douglass
Further references on therapeutic jurisprudence and the trauma-informed court

Artificial intelligence

The dark side of artificial intelligence: challenges for the legal system Dr W Gravett
Technology and the law The Honourable Geoffrey Nettle AC QC
Computer says “no” Dominique Hogan-Doran SC
Tweeters, posters and grammers beware: discovery and social media evidence The Honourable T F Bathurst AC
Online justice: The way of the future? Mr R Susskind OBE FRSE
Judge v robot? Artificial intelligence and judicial decision-making Professor T Sourdin
Technology and the future of the courts The Honourable Justice J Allsop AO
Artificial intelligence and litigation — future possibilities D Farrands KC

Acknowledgements

The Judicial Commission of NSW, an independent statutory corporation, is part of the judicial arm of government. It was established by the Judicial Officers Act 1986.

We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which the Commission is based, and pay respect to their Elders past and present.

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