Rule of law must be supported.

Michael Cope, QCCL President, said today, “The decision of the Federal Court in the judge of Vasta case raises serious issues for the rule of law in this country which need to be addressed immediately.”

As a consequence of the decision in the Judge Vasta case, in the absence of a statutory protection, judges in so-called inferior courts can now be sued when they make a mistake of law. This would apply in Queensland to Magistrates and Judges of the District Court.

“Judicial independence is fundamental to the rule of law. Magistrates or Judges who face the threat of litigation, particularly vexatious litigation, may well be deterred from doing justice in accordance with the law. It is well known that vexatious claims are on the increase”.

“In order to secure the rule of law in this State, the Council is today calling upon the federal and state governments to immediately pass laws giving Magistrates, District Court Judges and other similarly placed Judges the same level of immunity from civil proceedings as judges of the Supreme Court[1].”

A judge of the Supreme Court is not liable for anything he or she does while acting judicially, which is generally taken to mean when acting bona fide in the exercise of his or her office and under the belief that he or she has jurisdiction, though he or she may be mistaken in that belief.

The Parliament should also take the opportunity to remedy a big hole in the law in Queensland by providing a right to those who are wrongfully convicted of a criminal offence to claim compensation.

The number of wrongful convictions is the difficult to assess but it has been put in the United States at between .5 and 5%[2], the latter figure would mean 1 in 20 people in prison should not be there.

“Currently a wrongfully convicted person has no right to compensation. It is entirely at the whim of the government if you get anything and how much. If up to 1 in 20 people in prison shouldn’t be there, wrongfully convicted people must be given a right to compensation” says Mr Cope

Section 23 of the Australian Capital Territory Human Rights Act gives people who have been wrongfully convicted a right to compensation in the following circumstances:

(a) the person is convicted by a final decision of a criminal offence; and

(b) the person suffers punishment because of the conviction; and

(c) the conviction is reversed, or he or she is pardoned, on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice.

Mr Cope says, “Queensland Parliament should give Queenslanders who are wrongfully convicted of a criminal offence the same right compensation as in is enjoyed by their fellow citizens in Canberra.”

 ENDS

For further information contact Michael Cope President QCCL on 07 3223 5939 during office hours and on 0432 847 154

9 October 2023

[1] All judges in Queensland are already immune from criminal prosecution - s 30 of the Criminal Code

[2] Hoel A 2008. Compensation for wrongful conviction. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 356. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi356