Michael Grant backs plan for handling complaints about judiciary in wake of furore around Alice Springs magistrate’s treatment of young offenders and victims

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Northern Territory chief justice, Michael Grant, has backed a plan to refer complaints over judges’ behaviour to the New South Wales judicial commission, following a months-long scandal over a magistrate’s treatment of youth offenders in Alice Springs.

Alice Springs magistrate Greg Borchers’s judicial behaviour has been under scrutiny over a series of comments made from the bench including telling a 13-year-old offender he had “taken advantage” of his mother’s alleged murder by his father to commit crimes.

Borchers was also found to have made comments “heaping shame” on a 14-year-old rape victim, in a report by local court chief judge Dr John Lowndes that upheld 17 instances of “objectively improper, inappropriate and disrespectful” conduct.

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Borchers said the “unremitting process of churning through matters involving violence” had contributed to his behaviour. “There are no days off, there is no counselling and any other assistance.”

He has been removed from youth justice court duties in Alice Springs, but continues to preside over children’s matters in remote communities.

In a speech at the NT parliament to mark the start of the legal year, Grant said he supported a proposed model where complaints over judicial behaviour could be referred to the NSW commission.

He said the principles of judicial independence and tenure were fundamental to the functioning of democracy.

“It is vitally important to the maintenance of the rule of law that judges are impartial and independent of all external pressures. This enables those who appear before them, and the general public, to have confidence that their cases will be decided in accordance with the law.”

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He said that while parliament could remove a judicial officer on grounds of incapacity or misconduct, there were also “instances of inappropriate judicial conduct falling short of misconduct warranting removal”.

A previous inquiry found that the Northern Territory was too small a jurisdiction to warrant a judicial commission, but Grant said the idea should be revisited.

A model has been proposed whereby complaints about judicial officers would be assessed by a local registrar, established under the Judicial Officers Act. Complaints found to require further action would be referred to the NSW judicial commission.

“We intend putting that model to the local court judges, the Law Society, the Bar Association and the Criminal Lawyers Association of the Northern Territory with a view to making a joint submission to the executive government for the establishment of a process with those elements,” Grant said.

“If the executive and the legislature see fit to give effect to the proposal, issues such as the current controversy would be dealt with by that mechanism. We believe that process would best serve the public interest.”