Judge mentored after ‘many’ decisions overturned on appeal

Federal Circuit Court judge is being mentored after ‘many’ of his decisions were overturned.

Federal Circuit Court judge Sandy Street has had more than 80 decisions overturned on appeal in less than five years. Picture: AAP

A Federal Circuit Court judge is being mentored after the Chief Judge ­acknowledged that “many” of his decisions had been overturned on appeal.

Federal Circuit Court judge Sandy Street has had more than 80 decisions overturned on appeal in less than five years.

He has repeatedly been found to have failed to perform basic ­judicial tasks such as providing proper reasons for his decisions, engaging properly with arguments or ensuring procedural fairness for litigants.

Yesterday, the Federal Circuit Court conceded that many of Judge Street’s decisions had been successfully appealed but defended his record as “an extraordinarily hardworking   judge”.

“While the court is not at liberty to discuss individual cases, Chief Judge (Will) Alstergren acknowledges that many of Judge Street’s decisions have been overturned on appeal and, in response to this, Judge Street is receiving mentoring to assist and support him to fulfil his duties,” a spokeswoman said.

She added that in the 2018-19 financial year, Judge Street had managed about 660 cases and ­delivered about 400 judgments. Since his appointment to the Federal Circuit Court on January 1, 2015, he had delivered almost 2000 judgments, she said.

“Judge Street is an extraordinarily hardworking judge and has made a significant contribution to the work of the court, particularly in Sydney and Perth,” she said.

“His Honour regularly sits in other locations … to assist those registries with the demanding workload.”

Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses SC said the court’s statement that “many” of the judge’s decisions had been overturned was a “fair observation”, but this had been the situation for some time.

“In response to community concern, the Law Council has been reviewing ­appeal judgments of the Full Court from this judicial officer and has been concerned about the pattern of decisions that relate to the absence of procedural fairness,” he said.

“Procedural fairness is an essential element of a litigant’s right to a fair hearing in our system of justice.”

He said the Law Council had long supported the creation of a federal judicial commission to provide a “fair, transparent and ­independent” complaints-handling process and to support judicial education. It also supported a transparent judicial selection process to reinforce confidence in the courts.

Mr Moses said “one or two judges” should not detract from the good work of the majority of Federal Circuit Court judges, who were under-resourced.

He had been concerned for some time that the court needed its own full-time chief to lead and manage it, he said. Chief Judge ­Alstergren is also the Chief Justice of the Family Court.

The Federal Circuit Court spokeswoman said: “The court ­assesses each complaint and takes action as ­appropriate in response to the ­nature and gravity of the complaint. The Chief Judge has a number of steps available to him to assist judges, including counselling, mentoring and, in ­exceptional circumstances, the judge in question may be temporarily removed from sitting.”

She said the court had introduced a more rigorous induction process for judges last year, as well as a formal and ongoing mentoring program.