Push to extend judges’ age limit
LEGISLATION may soon be introduced to increase the mandatory retirement age for judges and magistrates, from 72 to 75.
Chief Justice Alan Blow, who recently turned 71, raised concerns late last year about an “inevitable” judicial talent drain in Tasmania.
On Tuesday, AttorneyGeneral Elise Archer announced the state government was seeking public comment on the planned legislation, which would increase the judicial retirement age in line with some other jurisdictions.
Ms Archer said doing so would help retain “continuity and valuable institutional knowledge”, aid in tackling COVID-19-caused backlogs, and recognise Tasmanians were now living and working longer.
Chief Justice Blow previously said that Tasmania’s judges faced a number of problems including heavy workloads caused by case backlogs and a spike in the need to process bail applications, as well as issues surrounding superannuation.
He said it seemed
“inevi
table that recruitment and retention of talented judges would become more and more difficult”, suggesting the state government raise the retirement age to 75 in a bid to “alleviate recruitment problems” as well as enable current judges to make better provision for their retirements.
The proposed legislation follows recent news that three acting judges – David Porter, Shane Marshall and Brian Martin – had been reappointed to the Supreme Court for a further two years in a bid to reduce court backlogs.
The state government also plans to appoint a seventh judge this year.
A public consultation period for the Increasing Judicial Retirement Age Bill is open until February 19.