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Family Court corruption assertions rejected by LCA

Australia’s peak advocacy body for the legal profession had pushed back against reports of corruption, including by those on the bench, in the Family Court of Australia.

user iconJerome Doraisamy 14 January 2021 Big Law
new LCA president Dr Jacoba Brasch QC
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In a statement issued on Wednesday, 13 January, the Law Council of Australia rejected assertions reported by Nine’s publishing division earlier in the week, quoting a Melbourne-based lawyer, that “the Family Court of Australia has many corruption issues” including “corrupt” judges.

Such comments, new LCA president Dr Jacoba Brasch QC said, “undermined public confidence” in the integrity of the courts as well as the rule of law.

“There is no doubt that family law is factually and legally complex, emotionally-charged and produces life-altering consequences for families and children,” she said.

“Judges of the Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia perform this important work in a difficult, high-pressure environment that carries the risk of physical danger to themselves and their families.”

Judges also face the gravity of knowing that their decisions, especially regarding children, could in some instances provoke extreme responses resulting in violence to a child or a party, or in tragic cases death.

Moreover, Dr Brasch continued, Australia’s judges are held accountable for their decisions through processes including appeals and the Family Court’s and Federal Circuit Court’s Judicial Complaints Procedures.

“Any specific allegation should be raised through these processes, not aired in the media to tarnish the reputation of the Court and hard-working judicial officers,” she pointed out.

Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.

You can email Jerome at: jerome.doraisamy@momentummedia.com.au 

Comments (4)
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    Comments which are defamatory, hostile, obscene or prejudicial - or factual - will not be published.
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    Addressing judges' reckless disregard for the law and welfare of victims of family violence, self represented litigants, by way of Appeal Court is just another way of disempowerment; rewarding the legally represented perp; hiding the michievous acts of lower court judges with further arrogance and further abuse of process. How many self rep women have achieved an appeal of farcical Federal Circuit CRT Family Law orders? None! Not even Dakin who proved Dakin and Sansbury de facto relationship pursuant to .s90SM FLA 1975, but what was the point? She came out with nothing, not even a fair hearing giving her clothes back to her.
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    Hetty Johnston AM GAICD Friday, 15 January 2021
    I would encourage readers to download 'Abbey's Project' ... published for some years now by Bravehearts and containing 18 actual examples of just how "unfit for purpose" (ALRC) The family law system REALLY IS. it contains some horrific reading but its real...it is only a small snapshot of what children are enduring... its a must read. This is a national crisis. It must stop now.
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    Making unsubstantiated claims of judicial corruption undermines public confidence. But there are numerous examples of judges behaving in arbitrary, sometimes high-handed, ways that to the public might look untoward. The Family Court is a pressure cooker waiting to blow. The recent review seems to have had little substantive impact on that pressure and the Court is still massively under-resourced. If public confidence is to be improved, the Federal Government cannot continue to ignore the problem.
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