Agency Information Guide

About the Commission

The Judicial Commission of New South Wales (the Commission) was established under the Judicial Officers Act 1986 (the Act) as an independent statutory corporation.

The Commission has published its Agency Information Guide in accordance with section 20 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) to promote access to Government information.

Our structure and function

The Commission consists of six (6) judicial members, being the heads of jurisdiction of the State's five courts and the President of the Court of Appeal. In addition, there are four (4) members appointed by the Governor of New South Wales. Of the appointed members, one is a legal practitioner appointed following consultations between the Attorney General and the Presidents of the Law Society and Bar Association and the other three are persons of high standing in the community. The President of the Commission is the Chief Justice of New South Wales.

The Commission members set strategic directions for the organisation, appoint the Chief Executive, approve budgets and conduct the preliminary examination of all complaints.

The Chief Executive is responsible for the Commission's day-to-day operations, ensuring that the principal functions are carried out efficiently and effectively. The Commission is supported by a staff of approximately 29FTE.

Under the Act, the Commission has three main statutory functions, namely, to:

• provide a continuing education program for the judicial officers of NSW
• publish information about criminal and civil law, with a focus on sentencing, to assist the courts to achieve consistency in imposing sentences; and
• examine complaints about a judicial officer's ability or behaviour.

Further information on the Commission's structure and functions is contained in the Commission's annual reports made available on our website.

Public participation

The Commission promotes public confidence in the judicial system by providing continuing education and training for judicial officers, promoting consistency in sentencing, examining complaints about the ability and behaviour of judicial officers, and educating the public about what judicial officers do.

Members of the public and court users have the right to expect that judges will behave impartially, courteously, ethically and to the highest standards of conduct.

Anyone may make a complaint about the ability or behaviour of a judicial officer. A formal complaint must:

• be in writing
• identify the judicial officer concerned and the complaint
• be supported by a statutory declaration that verifies the particulars of the complaint; and
• be lodged with the Chief Executive of the Commission.

Whilst the Commission does not directly involve members of the public in policy formulation, our website provides information to help the public understand the types of complaints we deal with, possible outcomes and how to make a complaint.

Information held by the Commission

The Commission holds information relating to its administrative, research and sentencing, education, and complaint handling functions.

Under the GIPA Act, there are four (4) ways that information can be made available to the public. These are:

• mandatory release of "open access information"
• proactive release of information for which there is no overriding public interest against disclosure
• informal release of information for which there is no overriding public interest against disclosure in response to an informal request, and
• as a last resort, formal release in response to an access application.

Information access

Open access information

Information classified as open access is the type of information that the Commission is required to make available to the public free of charge, unless it is not in the public interest to do so. This includes:

• our Agency Information Guide
• policy documents
• documents about the Commission tabled in the NSW Parliament (such as the Commission's Annual Report)
• disclosure log of access applications that the Commission considers to be in the broader public interest
• a register of contracts in which the Commission spends over $150,000
• research monographs, bench books and education publications.

All publicly available information is available on our website.

Proactive release

The Commission is required to have a program for the proactive release of information it holds. The Commission reviews its proactive release program at intervals of not more than 12 months as required under the GIPA Act, this is reviewed annually.

Our current program for the proactive release of information involves reviewing the types of information requested by the public, both informally and formally, to assess whether it may be of interest to the public generally.

We routinely publish a range of information that may be of interest to the public, free of charge on our website, unless there is overriding public interest against disclosure. Examples include our key publications, including Bench Books, handbooks and other legal publications, which contain relevant legislation, case law, sentencing principles and precedents which can be accessed free of charge by members of the public, and organisational information.

If the information sought is not already available on our website, members of the public are encouraged to contact our Right to Information Officer to discuss the proactive release of the information that may be of interest to the public.

Informal release

Treating requests as an informal access application is at the discretion of the Commission.

Members of the public can request access to information that is not available on our website. Where the Commission deems the requested information to be in the public interest to disclose, we may treat this as an informal access application and release the information free of charge.

Generally, the following information may be released under an informal access application:

• copies of correspondence between the individual and the Commission, if the applicant is the person who has sent or received the information
• records containing information that is in the public domain
• other records, where the release of which would not involve an overriding public interest against disclosure or raise any potential public interest considerations against disclosure.

The Commission may attach conditions to the release of this information with no right of review applicable to informal access applications.

We may require that you lodge a formal access application and pay the relevant fee as outlined in this Agency Information Guide.

Formal access application

If the information you are seeking is not available on our website and is not otherwise routinely provided by the Commission on request, you may formally apply for access to the information. The application must be:

• lodged in writing by email or post
• addressed to the Judicial Commission of New South Wales
• clearly indicate that it is an access application made under the GIPA Act
• be accompanied by a fee of $30 as outlined in the formal access application form
• state the name of the applicant and a postal or email address as the address for correspondence
• include such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the government information applied for to be identified.

If you wish to make a formal access application, please use the GIPA Act access application form available on our website. Depending on the information sought, processing fees may be imposed for requests that require substantial time and resources to process, for example, requests involving a large volume of documents. A 50% reduction in processing fees may apply if applicants can provide evidence of financial hardship.

Applications should be addressed to our Right to Information Officer under Further Information. You are encouraged to contact the Right to Information Officer who will provide you with assistance and guidance throughout the process.

Individuals have the right to request a review of certain decisions made by the Commission in response to a formal access application. A review may be conducted internally, or externally by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) or the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Further information regarding review rights and any associated fees is available on the IPC website.

Advance deposit

Section 68 of the GIPA Act allows the Commission to require an applicant to make an advance payment of the total estimated processing charge. An applicant may be asked to pay an advance deposit of up to 50% of the estimated processing charge.

For more information on the application of processing charges and the requirement to pay an advance deposit please refer to the IPC's factsheet GIPA Act Fees and Charges.

Excluded information

Information that relates to the Commission's (including the Conduct Division) complaint handling, investigative and reporting functions is "excluded information" under Schedule 2 of the GIPA Act. This means that an access application cannot be made for this information under that legislation.

Where information contains an overriding public interest against the disclosure of the information this also cannot be released in accordance with the GIPA Act. This includes any government information as described in Schedule 1 of the GIPA Act.

Disclosure log

The Commission maintains a disclosure log under section 25 of the GIPA Act which documents the information we release in response to access applications, and that may be of interest to members of the public which can be found on our website.

Further information

Our Right to Information Officer has been given authority and responsibility by the Chief Executive to fulfill the Commission's obligations under the GIPA Act.

If you have any questions or need advice about accessing the information held by the Commission, please contact:

Right to Information Officer

Judicial Commission of NSW

GPO Box 3634

Sydney NSW 2001

Phone: (02) 9299 4421

Email: judcom@judcom.nsw.gov.au

Website: www.judcom.nsw.gov.au

You can also access more resources about your right to government information and the operation of the GIPA Act by contacting the IPC:

Phone: 1800 472 679

Email: ipcinfo@ipc.nsw.gov.au

Website: www.ipc.nsw.gov.au