Independence Of Judiciary In Australia :: essays research papers

Independence of Judiciary in Australia a) How is the independence of the judiciary guaranteed in Australia? While the Westminster system had largely developed because of the doctrine of separation of powers, the Australian system of government is largely based on the Westminster. This doctrine of separation of powers proposes that the three institutions of government, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary should be exercised as separate and independent branches. It is this doctrine that stresses the need for the independence of the judiciary from the other two government institutions in order to protect the freedom of individuals. It is under this doctrine that no person can be a Member of Parliament and a judge at the same time. The doctrine of separation of powers offers several advantages, it proposes separate, specialized and efficient branches of government and it also reduces the abuse of government power by dividing it. a) Why is the independence of the judiciary an important feature of Australia's system of justice? The judiciary is the government branch that is concerned with the administration of justice. The judiciary is absolutely separate from the executive and the legislature, so it can check the concentration of government power. The independence of the judiciary is crucial of a democratic community because when judges are presiding over cases, there must be no interference and intimidation from the external forces. The independence issues touches upon the conflict of authority and freedom. If the doctrine of separation of powers did not exist, the authority would not be prevented from interfering in the administration of justice, therefore the basic freedoms of the citizens would not be guaranteed. It is up to the judiciary to exercise according to the law. It would be without the independence of the judiciary that the principles of rule of law and natural justice would be jeopardy and other institutions of government would interfere in the administration of justice. There are three main elements of the independence of the judiciary they are, permanency of tenure, dismissal by parliament and fixed remuneration. Permanency of tenure means that judges are appointed by the executive government and have a permanent tenure until they have to retire at the age of seventy. It was a constitutional referendum in 1977 that placed this requirement on federal judges. Also state laws have been made, for the state judges to retire at the same age. The only exception is the Family court justices; they have to retire at the age of sixty-five. Judges can only be dismissed on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity and can only be dismissed by parliament representatives.