The Transformation of Court Governance in Victoria: Part 2 - Towards a Model Policy Framework for Court Services Victoria

The article analyses the emergence of independent judicial councils and their role in facilitating judicial control of court administration in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK, the US and other countries. While much research has been conducted into the relative merits of judicial control of court administration, the study extends the court governance literature by developing an analytical policy framework for a model Judicial Council of Victoria with broad statutory responsibility for improving the quality of justice in the court system. The article outlines the essential terms of reference for a model Judicial Council of Victoria and proceeds to assess the institutional framework of Court Services Victoria, a judicial council that was established in 2014 to transfer the responsibility for court administration from the executive government to the judiciary. The article concludes that the Victorian court system reform broadly meets the model policy benchmarks, but that the legislation is insufficiently clear in important aspects and requires a set of specific amendments.