Independence Of Judiciary In Australia :: essays research papers

Independence of Judiciary in Australiaa) How is the independence of the judiciary guaranteed in Australia?While the Westminster system had largely developed because of the precept ofseparation of powers, the Australian system of political science is largely based onthe Westminster. This doctrine of separation of powers proposes that the threeinstitutions of government, the legislature, the executive and the judiciaryshould be exercised as sieve and independent branches. It is this doctrinethat stresses the need for the independence of the judiciary from the other twogovernment institutions in order to protect the freedom of individuals. It isunder this doctrine that no person can be a Member of Parliament and a judge atthe like time. The doctrine of separation of powers offers several advant climb ons,it proposes separate, specialized and in force(p) branches of government and italso reduces the abuse of government power by dividing it.a) Why is the independence of the judiciary an important feature of Australiassystem of justice?The judiciary is the government branch that is concerned with the administrationof justice. The judiciary is absolutely separate from the executive and thelegislature, so it can check the concentration of government power. Theindependence of the judiciary is essential of a democratic community because whenjudges are presiding over cases, there must be no step innce and intimidationfrom the external forces. The independence issues touches upon the dispute ofauthority and freedom. If the doctrine of separation of powers did not exist,the authority would not be prevented from interfering in the administration ofjustice, 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 withoutthe independence of the judiciary that the principles of rule of law and naturaljustice would be jeopardy and other institutions of government would interferein the admin istration of justice.There are three main elements of the independence of the judiciary they are,permanency of promote, dismissal by parliament and fixed remuneration. Permanencyof tenure means that judges are appointed by the executive government and have apermanent tenure until they have to retire at the age of seventy. It was aconstitutional 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 ageof sixty-five.Judges can only be dismissed on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacityand can only be dismissed by parliament representatives.