Part 1 Amendments to Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Conduct Panel Act 2004
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General): Perhaps I should make a few preliminary comments before Mr Chauvel makes a contribution. The main changes in Part 1 deal with the creation of the position of deputy commissioner. This person, as with the commissioner, will be appointed on the nomination of the House. The Attorney-General is required to consult the Chief Justice about the proposed appointment, and the deputy commissioner will act when the commissioner has a conflict of interest or is otherwise unavailable to examine complaints.
The provisions as reported back from the Justice and Electoral Committee are unchanged from the bill as introduced. There are, however, a couple of changes, which are set out on Supplementary Order Paper 108. They relate to disposal of complaints, and they are designed to give the commissioner a greater ability or a greater discretion to deal with complaints in a particular way. There are minor amendments to section 15 and consequential amendments to sections 16 and 17.
