The corporate transformation of the courts: Towards a judicial board of executive directors

The article seeks to advance the policy debate about court governance by reference to recent developments in Australia and other countries. It is argued that a corporate-style management board should be responsible for the judicial and administrative operations of the courts, with administrative judges and the CEO acting on the board as executive directors. It is contended that such an arrangement would be capable of achieving greater structural separation between ‘ownership’ and ‘management’ in the courts, which is regarded as an essential postulate of modern corporate law, because it promotes more expert and efficient management of large organisations. The paper also seeks to resolve the inherent conceptual difficulties involved in applying the corporate law theory to the courts, by arguing that the so-called ‘stewardship’ theory of corporate governance is capable of reconciling the key principles of modern corporate board design with the unique institutional character of the judicial organization.