Behave, judges warned

The nation’s chief justice has rebuked her own judiciary, warning judges to show respect and courtesy to witnesses, litigants and lawyers.

Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias was responding to results of a survey that revealed almost 90 per cent of lawyers had either experienced or witnessed harassment in the legal workplace.

Survey respondents singled out judges as some of the worst perpetrators of bullying and harassment and in a rare public statement, Elias said bullying of counsel was unacceptable.

“If it is occurring I and the heads of the bench want to know about it and we want to stop it.”

She would discuss the survey findings with the Criminal Bar Association to understand better the concerns expressed and what steps should be taken to address them.

She said it was difficult to tell from the survey whether the concerns were confined to in-court conduct seen as “overbearing or belittling” or whether it was other behaviour.

“If proper standards are not observed, I encourage those who are affected or who have observed such behaviour to raise their concerns with the head of bench or with me or to make a complaint to the Independent Judicial Conduct Commissioner.”

Of the 300 who responded to the survey about bullying and harassment, two thirds were women.

Eighty-eight per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced or witnessed harassment or bullying behaviour in the past four years.

‘We’ve barely surface’, p19-21

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