Judging in Your First Five Years: Criminal Law (Federally Appointed Judges) 2022

Overview

This intensive six-day program for recently appointed judges was designed to build their competence in managing criminal trials, from judicial pre-trials to sentencing. As sexual assault trials pose some of the greatest challenges for the judicial role, the seminar used a sexual assault fact scenario to anchor the issues and allowed participants to practice the relevant skills with social context training integrated throughout.

Objective

The objectives of this seminar were to deliver training in substantive and procedural law and the law of evidence, including the statutory regimes governing third party records and sexual history evidence and Charter motions by the accused, as well as to develop skills in managing direct examination and cross-examination, dealing with self-represented accused, making credibility assessments, and ensuring sufficiency of reasons.

Summary

The program was led by a multi-disciplinary faculty of experienced judges, practitioners, and academics and was addressed to judges who had between one and five years of experience. Judges who attended participated in a mix of presentation and breakout exercises based on a sexual assault fact scenario from pre-trial through to sentencing with emphasis placed on the skills of trial management.  Throughout the seminar, participants discussed myths and stereotypes in sexual assault cases, dealing with social media, vulnerable witnesses and the victimization of Indigenous women and girls in the justice system in a special session discussing the impact of Barton and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.