Judicial Independence Flashcards
What is judicial independence?
A fundamental principle of SOP, that a judge can only be a judge and cannot perform any legislative or executive function simultaneously whilst being a judge.
What is the importance of judicial independence?
ensures judges make decisions based purely on the merits of the cases.
ensures justice is administered objectively, solely in accordance with the law, free from the arbitrary intervention of other government bodies.
What is one feature of judicial independence?
Fixed remuneration (payment): judges salaries cannot be lowered, although they can be increased. This prevents any possible community perception that judges tailor their decisions to prevent the government from lowering their salaries.
What are the purposes of the Australian Court Hierarchy?
Appeals and judicial review: allows avenue to have decisions appealed in a higher court, to allow checks and balances on decisions to ensure just and fair outcomes.
Doctrine of Precedent: legal principles created in superior courts become binding on all lower courts, this serves the purpose of ensuring consistency, fairness and predictability of legal outcomes.
In the SA Parliament, how many seats are their in the lower (House of Assembly) and upper house (Legislative Council).
22 in the upper house
47 in the lower house
In the Commonwealth Parliament, how many seats are their in the lower house (House of Representatives) and the upper house (Senate) ?
151 in the lower house
76 in upper house.
Outline two roles of the South Australian and Commonwealth parliaments.
> Scrutinising function - Parliament scrutinises government activities, decisions and their departments.
> Legislative function - Parliament makes new laws and amends—changes—existing laws.
