Fed: Williams tells judges to butt out of the political process

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-2001
Fed: Williams tells judges to butt out of the political process

CANBERRA, April 8 AAP - Judges should keep out of politically contentious issues such
as mandatory sentencing, Federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams has told a judicial conference.

In a clear warning to butt out of politics, Mr Williams said the doctrine of the separation
of powers had to work both ways.

"On the one hand it means that the judiciary should be free of interference from the
executive," he told the Judicial Conference of Australia at Uluru, Northern Territory
this weekend.

"But it also means that the judiciary should not interfere in matters that are the
responsibility of the government.

"The public confidence in the impartiality of the courts depends on individual judges
being seen as above the rough and tumble of political debate."

Mr Williams said it was inappropriate that some members of the judiciary ventured into
last year's debate on mandatory sentencing.

He said neither he nor the Commonwealth supported mandatory sentencing laws operating
in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

This was rightly an issue for the states and territories whose legislatures were best
placed to resolve these matters, he said.

"Judges should not be using their office to criticise the political process," he said.

"To be brutally honest, simply stating that laws should be repealed does nothing to
solve the problems that necessitated the laws in the first place."

Mr Williams said mandatory sentencing laws reflected a complex range of factors not
the least of which was a community perception that the criminal justice system was failing
to protect the community and deter reoffenders.

He said he was aware of the strong support for the WA laws and telling the community
their concerns about crime were misplaced did nothing to ease those concerns or fix the
underlying cause of crime.

"The Commonwealth could have joined the chorus of disapproval against mandatory detention
laws in the Northern Territory," he said.

"However, rather than merely engaging in a largely media driven debate, the government
felt that it was better to take action to ameliorate the impact of these law on young
people under the age of 18."

AAP mb/cjh/sb

KEYWORD: MANDATORY WILLIAMS

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