The Honourable Justice Gleeson’s address Judicial independence and liberal democracy has been included, on the importance of judges’ impartiality. The assumption that Australian judges are immune from the pressures of criticism or threats of political reform is both flawed and harmful, as her Honour discusses, where complacency can produce vulnerability.

Advancing judicial legitimacy by the Honourable Justice Gleeson conveys the importance of maintaining the general public’s respect for the judicial system and its decisions, particularly when considering the broader global context of democratic backsliding.

A keynote address Cultural diversity in the law: it is not revolution — but we are going to occupy the buildings by the Honourable Justice Hament Dhanji has been added, addressing the law’s historical cultural homogeneity, and the racial barriers embedded within it. His Honour discusses diversity’s symbolic importance in legitimising the law, as well as ensuring justice by representing culturally informed standards of reasonableness, proportionality, and other value judgments embedded in legal processes.

Further references on diversity have been added to this section.

In Making good decisions, the Honourable Justice Payne characterises a “good” decision by open-mindedness, discipline, modesty, ability and resilience. Judgments in a tribunal context are framed by the application of value thresholds, such as “correct or preferable”, which requires a distinctly evaluative legal exercise from the appointed decision-maker. Justice Payne discusses how to embed these positive qualities into decisions with such a broad ambit.

The Honourable Justice Bathurst emphasises clarity, brevity, and prioritising dispute resolution as central to judgment writing in a new addition Efficient, informal and fair: courts delivering under pressure. His Honour provides practical direction as to how to construct a decision with these qualities.

A speech by the Honourable Justice Beech-Jones titled Judgment writing: get smart is added, discussing four key aspects of judgment writing, focusing on the when, what, how and who of the process. In particular, his Honour discusses when and how to deliver an ex tempore judgment, and provides practical strategies for structuring and writing reserved judgments.

An address by the Honourable Justice Kunc, Where to next? Building a culture, urges for the expedient and binding implementation of Recommended Standards for interpreters in the legal system to support CALD parties.

Dr Bromberg's article Examining social media friendship between judicial officers and lawyers post Charisteas v Charisteas has been included, providing guidance on the obligations and issues raised by social media connections between judicial officers, parties to a proceeding or legal professionals.

Judicial bullying: let’s have a conversation includes a number of practical suggestions on how to respond to judicial bullying and options for getting assistance and making a complaint. Ms Eastman AM SC further outlines the legal framework which governs the workplace environment.

Professor Opeskin’s article Can implicit bias in judicial decision-making be cured by greater diversity on the Bench? addresses the inevitability of implicit bias as a function of the human brain, and proposes a systemic-institutional solution in appointing more judicial officers of diverse backgrounds. Opeskin also advocates for the widespread adoption of counter-stereotypes, to avoid embedding existing ingroup-outgroup delineations in the social environments of developing generations.

Further references on apprehended bias and unconscious bias updated re revised judicial conduct guide (2023).

Further references on therapeutic jurisprudence and the trauma-informed court have been included in the update.

Sovereign citizens: ideology, impacts and judicial responses by the Honourable Peter Johnson SC has been included to provide guidance to judicial officers as to the management of self-identifying sovereign citizens in legal settings, including contextualising the terminology and procedures adopted by the movement.

Professor Pathé’s article What do judicial officers need to know about sovereign citizens? further elaborates on the ideological foundations of the sovereign citizen movements, and behaviour which can reasonably by expected to appear in the courtroom. She provides specific detail as to the beliefs and arguments sovereign citizens may use to challenge the authority of the court, and how to safely reject their pseudo-law.

Additional citations included throughout the section are added under Further references on unrepresented and vexatious litigants and sovereign citizens.

A keynote address What do judicial officers need to know about the risks of AI? by the Honourable Justice Perry has been added to caution the delayed development of the law around emerging technologies in contrast to their constant evolution. Her Honour discusses examples of human bias programmed into new technologies, and their potential uses for disinformation and misinformation, highlighting the need for informed and effective regulation.

AI is further discussed by the Right Honourable Sir Geoffrey Vos in AI — Transforming the work of lawyers and judges, who addresses the practical uses of generative AI for both lawyers and judges, and how it may affect the legal industry in the future. He urges the importance of learning about AI systems, as their presence and our reliance upon them becomes increasingly unavoidable.

The contributing authors have been updated as per the addition of articles.

Handbook for Judicial Officers International Award — An Award of Professional Excellence was given by the Association for Continuing Legal Education to the Judicial Commission of NSW for the Handbook for Judicial Officers in the Best Publication category.

“Judicial independence — from what and to what end?” by the Honourable Chief Justice S Kiefel AC in Independence, accountability and open justice

“Trust in the judiciary” by the Honourable T F Bathurst AC in Ethics and conduct

“Shaping legal minds — the ethical mind” by the Honourable Chief Justice S Kiefel AC in Ethics and conduct.

“The national certification system for the translating and interpreting profession in Australia” has been updated by Mr Mark Painting to include the revised Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals in Communication

“Recommended national standards for working with interpreters in courts and tribunals” has been updated to include the new Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals in Communication

“A fragile bastion: UNSW judicial traumatic stress study” by Professor J Hunter, Professor R Kemp, Mr K O’Sullivan and Professor P Vines in Stress and vicarious trauma

“Introducing solutions for maintaining positive psychological health: the judicial wellbeing portal” by her Honour Magistrate E Kennedy in Stress and vicarious trauma

“The importance of trauma-informed court practice” by Dr M King in Therapeutic jurisprudence and the trauma-informed court

“A road less travelled: footprints from trauma” by Magistrate M Douglass in Therapeutic jurisprudence and the trauma-informed court

“Artificial intelligence and litigation — future possibilities” by Mr D Farrands KC in Artificial intelligence