In his paper, on the topic 'Future directions in Judicial Academy' the Australian CJ says, Judicial education has a very important part to play in the rule of law. That was made most evident by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan from Pakistan who attended the Sydney conference.
"Justice Jan is involved in judicial education in that country but is also a member of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Most of you would know the recent turbulent events involving the judiciary of Pakistan.
"The point forcefully made by Justice Jan was that it was the people of Pakistan who in the end were the ultimate protectors of the independence of the judiciary."
"It was the people who demanded the restoration of their judiciary, and whose demands became so strong and so loud that it was impossible for the government to resist them," he adds, a press release by SC quoted him as saying.
The CJ further says Where does that observation lead in terms of judicial education? It seems to me to lead to the proposition that independence of the judiciary depends critically upon public confidence.
"Public confidence depends upon judges doing our jobs well and efficiently. It also depends upon judicial officers being sensitive to the needs of the communities which we serve and upon our ability to effectively communicate to those communities, what we do and why.
"It depends upon us being sensitive to the social context in which we perform our duties and it requires us to perform them in a way which is relevant to the communities which we serve.
If we do all that, we will enhance the public confidence of the community in the judiciary and that is ultimately the vital protection of our independence.
And, of course, the purpose of judicial independence is not to provide a benefit to the judiciary, but to enable the judicial system to function fairly with integrity and impartiality he says while elucidating roles of Judges.