The Australian legal system is unique in many ways, including the fact that judges aren’t formally appointed by the national government, but rather chosen by the state or territory they work in. Other challenges faced by the Australian judicial system include training and support programs for legal professionals, as well as enforcing accountability of public officials and agencies that deal with criminal prosecution and law enforcement. This article covers some of these challenges and more about the Australian judicial system and how it compares to other countries with similar legal systems.
The Challenges Facing the Judiciary
People in general are not well-versed with how Australia’s judicial system works. Having a fair and informed judiciary is important for any country to maintain law and order.
Here are the key challenges that face Australia’s judiciary today;
1. Accessibility of Courts
One of our biggest problems is accessibility of courts. Although we have seen an overall increase in numbers of people using it in recent years, there are still a large number who are unaware or unwilling to use it for various reasons.
2. Transparency
The law system needs to be transparent and easy for citizens to understand, otherwise, that’s not a good legal system; just ask any Singaporean about their experiences with their country’s legal system and you will get an idea of what a complex legal system can do to its citizens.
3. Funding of Australia’s Legal System Is Always an Issue
There are a large number of cases to be handled and there aren’t enough resources allocated to them. The courts need additional resources, but they aren’t getting them fast enough, resulting in a slower legal process than what we expect it to be.
4. Not Enough Choices When It Comes to Legal Representation
Depending on your economic status, there aren’t enough options when it comes to choosing legal counsel. If you are poor, or in a low paying job, and have something really serious going on such as a criminal case then you might have to deal with someone who is inexperienced or incompetent.
5. Lack of Representation for Less-Privileged Defendants and Witnesses
According to Legal Aid data, close to 50% of people in legal proceedings are forced to represent themselves due to a lack of financial resources. Even more disturbing is that these people constitute 80% of all parties in family law proceedings such as divorce cases. In some cases, not being represented by a lawyer during family court proceedings might also result in unfair treatment or an unfair ruling against you because you were unaware of your rights and didn’t put forward your side properly.
6. Language and Cultural Barriers
Sometimes, you don’t get your day in court because you can’t speak English properly or don’t know how to operate a computer properly. You might even not be able to afford a translator to help you get your point across during legal proceedings if it goes that far.
7. Time for Appeal Is Too Short
If you don’t agree with a judge’s ruling, you have 30 days to appeal. That might seem like a lot of time, but that’s only if you are familiar with all aspects of your case and know exactly what needs to be argued in order to get a reversal or an alteration of judgement from an appeals court. If not, then your chances of getting it reversed aren’t so good because it is too little time to figure out how to make that happen.
Effects of Judicial Challenges On Various Entities
We have often seen how judiciary is used as a tool for personal benefits and to fulfil personal vengeance. There have been plenty of instances where fake witnesses have fabricated evidence to manipulate judgements. While such cases may sometimes go unreported, there is no denying that if such fictitious statements were taken at face value they can cause irreparable harm to one’s reputation with no means of fighting back. It would be extremely important, therefore, for any individual who has been accused falsely of any crime or misconduct should know their rights against such malicious prosecution.
1. The Effect on People’s Lives
Whether you’re an employee, business owner or consumer living in Australia, it pays to understand how these challenges affect your daily life. Once you understand their impact, you’ll be better prepared to do your part for a stronger judicial system. Let’s take a look at how these challenges may affect your everyday life.
2. The Effect of These Challenges on Business Owners
To successfully run any type of business in Australia, there are a number of regulations and standards you must meet – both from within your industry and from outside your industry. A strong judiciary is vital to ensure that businesses adhere to these laws; without proper legal enforcement, people could begin taking advantage of loopholes and bending rules.
3. The Effects on Employees
If a company decides not to pay employees what they deserve or if they violate workplace laws in some other way, employees can hold them accountable through courts if need be. With more knowledge about these processes, workers can feel empowered to protect themselves and hold employers accountable when necessary.
4. The Impact on Society
It goes without saying that everyone wants peace and order in their lives; when those things aren’t present, crime tends to go up. That’s why it’s important for each member of society to play a role in ensuring that things like workplace violations don’t occur. When we all work together towards common goals and follow rules as intended, we create a safe community.
Future Challenges of Australia’s Legal System
The future challenges of Australia’s legal system include an increasingly multicultural society, and an aging population. Increasing demands on its resources are being placed on all levels of government, particularly as a result of social changes. Additional future challenges of the Australian Judicial system include;
In particular, there is concern about increasing demands on court resources as a result of an aging population. Currently, a relatively small number of older people make up a significant proportion of those seeking legal services.
Law enforcement in Australia also faces major challenges with drug trafficking and associated crime becoming a major concern as a result of an increasingly globalised market. This trend will only continue to grow, which will lead to further problems with funding and other resources.
Another challenge faced by all levels of government is to ensure that law enforcement agencies have a high level of cooperation between them. This will enable information sharing and more effective responses to both existing and future threats, such as terrorism.
Another future challenge of Australia’s legal system is diversity. Australia is an increasingly multicultural society, with almost half of its people born overseas or having at least one parent who was born overseas. There are many different cultural and religious groups that have strong beliefs about justice and related issues.
In addition to these future challenges, current and future members of Australia’s legal system need to be aware of their own cultural backgrounds and biases. These factors must not affect their work. Law enforcement officers should have a clear understanding of how their actions can impact on different people from different cultures; particularly with regard to cases where those people are from minority groups.
Legal professionals should be well-versed in multiculturalism issues that relate to law and order issues; so that they can ensure cultural bias does not arise at any stage of a case or process.
Conclusion
The Australian judicial system is faced with a multitude of challenges. Alongside other national challenges, these can include: Drug Trafficking: Since many countries, including New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, supply significant quantities of drugs to Australia’s shores, there is always concern for large-scale drug trafficking across borders. With crime syndicates committing these crimes, it can be hard to find small cracks in security or to recognize small signs of criminal activity at all.
FAQS
1. Can you get free legal help if you’re on a low income?
Free legal help is available to eligible people who meet certain eligibility criteria from Legal Aid, Community Legal Centres and a range of other organisations and services.
2. Which aspect of the legal system needs improvement?
The legal system needs to establish a common set of rules and regulations across all states and territories so that it can avoid dealing with specific cases on an individual basis.
3. How does Judicial challenges affect judges in Australia?
Judicial challenges affect judges in all states and territories, at all levels of court. The process of judicial appointment is similar across all states and territories; each jurisdiction establishes its own guidelines that ensure transparent and accountable processes.
4. Is there any help available if you run into these problems?
There is a branch of Legal Aid in each state and territory, which provide free legal advice for people who can’t afford a lawyer and meet certain income limits.
References
https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/navigating-australia-s-legal-aid-maze
https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/law-and-practice/appeals/from-courts
https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/World_Drug_Report_2010_lo-res.pdf
https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/3066880/NEW-Appleby-422-Advance-1.pdf