The Supreme Court may soon hear a case on data-driven criminal sentencing. Research suggests that algorithms are not as good as we think they are at making these decisions.
If even top judges can get it wrong when it comes to domestic abuse then perhaps it’s time we all tried to better understand the nature of coercive and controlling behaviour.
England and Wales’ most senior justices at the opening of the Supreme Court in 2009.
Fiona Hanson PA Archive/PA Images
The electorate and those involved in public governance should focus more on how judges are appointed. This is because they need to make sure that individuals of the highest quality get the job.
There are inherent shortcomings in a procedure that asks judges to make objective and rational assessments about how their own conduct, relationships or interests might appear to others
Dyson Heydon prided himself throughout his judicial career on the robust independence and intellectual integrity he brought to the role.
AAP/Renee Nowytarger
How has a former judge with an avowed commitment to judicial independence and probity found himself at the centre of a very public controversy over his own impartiality?
Australia’s method of appointing judges to its highest courts is opaque and informal.
AAP/Lukas Coch
It is no criticism of Australia’s judiciary to say that it would be preferable, both for them and the public, if they took office after a more transparent process.
Three of the seven seats in the High Court of Australia will soon be filled by women judges.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Now that women will make up 40% of High Court judges come June 2015, is gender now irrelevant? Hardly. Women have made up slightly less than 10% of all High Court judges in the court’s history.
Marvin Gaye’s daughter speaks to the media after her family was awarded $7.4 million.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
According to copyright expert Wendy Gordon, the judge bungled his instructions to the jury. From there, the outcome was inevitable.
Tabloid media invite readers to ‘be the judge’ but when acquainted with all the facts of a case the public actually leans towards lighter sentences than the judges impose.
Herald Sun
There are fault lines in all forms of government. Democracies are as vulnerable as any other to one of them: the charm of the easy and emotionally attractive answer to multi-faceted problems. This is not…