Contents
Perry S Millar and Carl Baar,
'The Future of the Courts' FULL TEXT
Lindsay Curtis, ‘Agenda
for Reform: Lessons from the States and Territories’ FULL
TEXT
Neil Andrews, A New Civil Procedure Code for
England: Party-Control 'Going, Going, Gone'
Perry S Millar and Carl Baar,
Judicial Administration in Canada, Ch.14 The Future of the Courts. 1981
Effective management – efficiency – to ensure continuing
role for courts
The authors contemplate the paradox of an expansion in the use of courts
accompanied by a decline in the importance of law. New approaches to
the use of courts are discussed. A ‘social court’ approach
in the family court, integrates social and legal services and dilutes
the legal content. Small claims courts reduce the importance of basic
legal principles when attempting to balance the needs of disputants
who appear without legal representation. Diversion in criminal cases
avoids labelling, but may exclude the court. Use of diversion can change
traditional approaches to crime, either by offering supervision and
treatment programs, or by decriminalizing the conduct. Such changes
may occur without court planning unless the courts are managed effectively.
There are several steps the courts must take to ensure their continuing
relevance, including maintaining their central role in resolving disputes,
ensuring minimum adherence to the rule of law and ensuring effective
enforcement of their orders. Effective management may not guarantee
a continuing role for courts, but without it they cannot survive.
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Lindsay Curtis, ‘Agenda for
Reform: Lessons from the States and Territories’ Administrative
Tribunals – Taking Stock, ed. Robin Creyke, Centre for International
and Public Law, Australian National University, 1992
Courts – transfer of jurisdiction to tribunals – separation
of powers – independence of tribunal members- reasons for establishing
tribunals
At a time when significant parts of the courts’ jurisdiction are
being transferred to tribunals, this paper expresses concern about the
ability of the courts to respond. Professor Curtis asks why work is
being transferred to tribunals and finds reasons beyond court formality
and delays, including the courts’ inability to respond to special
circumstances, tribunals’ responsiveness to economic and social
conditions and their sensitivity to government policy. As the trend
away from courts to tribunals is set to continue the paper suggests
an agenda for reform. Items on the agenda include finding a balance
between independence and responsiveness to government policy, establishing
conventions for relations between tribunals and the executive, setting
norms for the appointment and tenure of tribunal members and for the
procedures to be used by them, including appropriate appeal procedures.
The establishment of a tribunals review council is also recommended.
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Links
Daryl Williams, Australian Commonwealth Attorney General, Launch of
the Administrative Review Council's Guide to Standards of Conduct for
Tribunal Members
October 2001
http://www.law.gov.au/ministers/attorney-general/articles/arcguide.html
Daryl Williams, Australian Commonwealth Attorney General,
Separation of powers - a comparison of the Australian and UK experiences
Anglo-Australasian Lawyers Society, June 2001
http://www.law.gov.au/ministers/attorney-general/articles/powers.html
Neil Andrews, A New Civil Procedure Code for
England: Party-Control 'Going, Going, Gone' (2000) 19 Civil Justice
Quarterly 19-38
Mr Andrews, a barrister, questions whether efficiency and fairness can
ever be achieved in practice.
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