The state’s chief judge has declined to be drawn into a public debate about the language used in the court after Premier Roger Cook called on him to reprimand a magistrate who branded a domestic violence victim “petulant” and “volatile”.
The premier urged Chief Justice Peter Quinlan to call in Magistrate Robert Young over language he used to describe a 25-year-old domestic violence victim during the sentencing of her perpetrator for aggravated assault causing bodily harm.
Premier Roger Cook announced $86 million to go towards beefed up family and domestic violence responses at the beginning of the 16 Days in WA campaign.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
According to 7News Perth, Young claimed the victim — who was punched twice outside the WA Art Gallery in Northbridge in early 2023 — was a “petulant, volatile, confrontational, defensive and disrespectful” witness and declared he believed the adjectives “may well describe her more broadly”.
He also described her facial bruising as “relatively superficial” and referenced the punch, captured on CCTV, as being more akin to “throwing an elbow”.
While insisting he did not wish to minimise the assault or family violence more generally, Young dubbed the perpetrator an “otherwise functional and intelligent person” before handing him a fine of $1500.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Cook said he believed the language was “completely regrettable” and expressed concern it may deter other victims from coming forward.
“Family and domestic violence is an insidious issue which impacts everyone in the community, and one of the key things that we need is for people to be heard and to not have issues and language put in their faces which will deter them or others from bringing forward their complaints,” he said.
“And it’s not only important for that victim, but it’s important for others to know that they can come forward without being unnecessarily judged or criticised simply because they brought forward a complaint.
“That language is completely regrettable, and I don’t think it passes the pub test.
Peter Quinlan SC, Western Australia. October 2015. Photo: ABA .
“Ultimately, he will be held accountable by the chief judge and other measures that we have inside the judicial system to make sure that our courts function properly.
“Look, [Quinlan] should certainly call him in.”
In a statement released to this masthead on Tuesday afternoon, Quinlan insisted it would be inappropriate to comment on the sentence.
He said courts sentencing offenders were required to take the need to protect vulnerable people into account so far as the imposition of a sentence, bearing in mind the criminality of the offence, and that it was a principle applied by WA judges and magistrates in tens of thousands of cases each year.
In cases where the legal principles had not been properly applied, the correct avenue was the Court of Appeal — and it was not his place, or that of any judge, to comment.
“It would be inappropriate for any appeal judge, and contrary to the rule of law, to comment on the correctness of a sentence other than in an appeal brought for the purpose of correcting that sentence, in which all relevant material is before the court” he said.
It comes midway through the 16 Days in WA campaign, which aims to raise awareness of family and domestic violence from the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25 to Human Rights Day on December 10.
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