Can I make a complaint?
If you have not been declared a vexatious litigant (someone who persistently initiates legal actions without reasonable grounds, often to harass or subdue an opponent) you can make a complaint.
What happens when I make a complaint?
When we receive your complaint, we will run a preliminary examination.
During the examination, we might contact you to clarify issues or provide further information and documentation.
In certain circumstances, we may need to contact other agencies or people to make enquiries about the work undertaken by them in your complaint.
After a complaint is made, we will conduct a preliminary examination and the Commissioner will decide whether to:
- efer the complaint to the Office for Public Integrity;
- refer the complaint to the judicial officer who is the jurisdictional head and recommend the action that should be taken;
- recommend the appointment of a judicial conduct panel to investigate the conduct;
- make a report to Parliament;
- or take no further action or dismiss the complaint.
Why would they dismiss my complaint?
It might be that the Commissioner is obliged to dismiss your complaint in accordance with the Judicial Conduct Commissioner Act 2015 (JCC Act) or that the Commissioner is satisfied that further consideration of your complaint would, in all of the circumstances, be unjustified.
The Commissioner must also dismiss a complaint in certain circumstances, such as if the complaint:
- is not within the Commissioner’s jurisdiction
- has no bearing on judicial functions or duties
- has been made for an improper purpose
- is about a judicial decision or function that could be dealt with by an appeal or judicial review
- is about a person who is no longer a judicial officer; or
- has previously been considered by the Commissioner and no further action was taken.
The Commissioner may also dismiss the complaint if it was not made in accordance with the JCC Act.
It's an offence to make a complaint knowing that there are no grounds. It's also an offence to make a statement to the Commissioner that is false or misleading.
The JCC Act contains strict confidentiality obligations.
If information has been provided by us to assist with a complaint, it is an offence for anyone who receives the information to use it for any other purpose.
The Commissioner can prohibit the publication of information about complaints. This can include, placing information on social media or in the newspaper, television or radio.
It is an offence to breach a prohibition on publication.
