A District Court judge “fell short of appropriate standards” in a decision he delivered after a verdict in a rape case, the judicial watchdog has found.
A NSW District Court judge has come under fire from the judicial watchdog for “imprudent” and “rash” comments he made in a judgment in a sexual assault case, in a second blow to the court within months.
Dowling lodged a NSW Judicial Commission complaint against Judge Peter Whitford after he claimed in a decision in February that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions applied “opaque, even secret, policies” rather than published guidelines when considering which cases to prosecute. “ suggestion of an opaque or secret policy within the DPP to act otherwise than in accordance with its published guidelines is extraordinary and raises a real concern as to the administration of justice,” the conduct division said.“It had no evidentiary foundation and created the appearance of lack of judicial impartiality.”
‘ suggestion of an opaque or secret policy within the DPP to act otherwise than in accordance with its published guidelines is extraordinary and raises a real concern as to the administration of justice.’The commission referred the report to the Chief Judge of the District Court, Sarah Huggett, “for such counselling and support” as she considered appropriate. No further recommendations were made.
He said it was “at least the recent experience of this court that time and time again proceedings are brought without apparent regard to whether there might be reasonable prospects of securing a conviction”.
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