Judicial Commissions Act 2024

After completing an inquiry into a complaint, a commission must – prepare a report of its examination; and submit the report to the Attorney-General.

A report under subsection (1) must – set out the commission’s findings on material questions of fact; and refer to the evidence or other material on which those findings were based; and set out the commission’s recommendation as to whether or not, in the opinion of the commission, the behaviour or physical or mental capacity of the relevant judicial officer warrants the removal of the judicial officer from judicial office.

A commission may make a recommendation in a report under subsection (1) that a matter contained in the report is unsuitable for public release if the commission is satisfied that one or more of the following may apply if the matter were to be made public:a person who has been, or may be, charged with an offence may not receive a fair trial for the offence; an investigation of a breach or possible breach of the law may be prejudiced; the existence or identity of a confidential source of information in relation to the enforcement or administration of the law may be disclosed or a person may be enabled to ascertain the existence or identity of that source; the personal affairs, or personal wellbeing, of a person may be significantly affected; there may be prejudice to the safety or reputation of a person.

If a commission makes a recommendation in respect of a matter under subsection (3), the commission is to include, with the report, a statement of the reasons for making the recommendation in respect of the matter.

When submitting a report to the Attorney-General under this section, a commission must commit any documents or things (except documents or things required for the purpose of finalising matters under section 52) then in its possession to the custody of the council for safekeeping.

The Attorney-General must accept a recommendation of a commission made under subsection (3) unless the Attorney-General is satisfied that there are compelling reasons of public interest as to why the relevant report should be tabled in each House of Parliament, as required under section 50, without any part of the report being omitted under that section.