Principles of judicial appointment
14 January 2026
The Law Council of Australia welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in relation to her thematic report on principles of judicial appointment.
The process by which judges are appointed—and the applicable criteria and principles that govern appointments—are topics of longstanding, principled engagement by the Law Council, and grounded in the Law Council’s object to promote and defend the rule of law in the public interest.
Consistent with the Law Council’s remit to represent the Australian legal profession on federal and national issues, this engagement has focused on Federal judicial appointments in Australia. The Law Council has also engaged with international counterparts and in international fora regarding issues relating to judicial appointments, also with a view to promoting and defending the rule of law.
On 28 January 2001, the Law Council released a policy on judicial appointments. The policy was updated in 20081 and again in 2021 in response to changes in government processes and concerns regarding the diversity of the judiciary. A copy of the Law Council’s current Policy on the Process of Judicial Appointments is included as an appendix to this submission (Appendix A).
The Law Council’s Policy addresses the key processes and principles that the Law Council considers should govern the appointment of judicial officers to federal courts and tribunals in Australia.
The Policy is designed to ensure transparency in federal judicial appointments and diversity in Australia’s judicial officers, on the basis that these outcomes will promote public trust in the administration of justice and further the Law Council’s key objects to promote the rule of law in the public interest and to advance the profession and the ethical standards of legal institutions.2
This submission contextualises the Law Council’s existing policy by providing an overview of Australia’s judicial appointments system, focusing on federal courts. An overview of the comparative appointments processes and selection criteria for courts at the State and Territory level in Australia are provided in Appendix B and Appendix C.3
Whilst the Law Council’s Policy has been developed in a domestic context, it may nevertheless assist the Special Rapporteur in articulating core principles that should guide judicial appointments more broadly.
1 See, Law Council of Australia, The Process of Judicial Appointments (Policy Statement, September 2008).
2 Law Council of Australia, Policy on the Process of Judicial Appointments (Policy Statement, 26 June 2021) 3.
3 Appendices B and C are based on materials published by the Australian Law Reform Commission, but have been updated to assist the Special Rapporteur. See Australian Law Reform Commission, Without Fear or Favour: Judicial Impartiality and the Law on Bias (Report 138, December 2021) (‘Without Fear or Favour’) 587–610.
Last Updated on 19/01/2026