AUST: Judge attacks blow to rights 

AUST: Judge attacks blow to rights

From http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9086760%255E2862,00.html

Judge attacks blow to rights

Wayne Howell

27mar04

CUTTING families' access to lawyers could greatly harm children, the retiring chief judge of the Family Court said last night.

Chief Justice Alastair Nicholson said Federal Government plans for lawyer-free mediation smacked of a totalitarian regime.
The chief judge used a national video link-up marking his retirement to lambast the Federal Government.

Justice Nicholson has been renowned for his outspokenness in the 16 years he has headed the Family Court.

"I must say I regard the current proposal to limit the availability of lawyers before a body such as the proposed Families Tribunal as a serious attack on the civil liberties of Australians, smacking more of totalitarian regimes than of a democracy," Justice Nicholson said.

He told a ceremonial sitting including live video link-ups with 19 courts around the country that lawyers were vital to settling many highly charged, emotional family disputes.

"When they (lawyers) are absent, as is often the case these days, the process often breaks down into rancour and bitterness, often at the expense of the parties' children," he said.

Sitting with 21 Family Court judges, New Zealand Family Court Chief Justice Patrick Mahony and Victorian Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Warren, Justice Nicholson was praised as a fearless defender of his court and of children's legal rights.

The head of the Australian Bar Association, Ian Harrison, QC, said Chief Justice Nicholson's battles with attorneys-general was his badge of honour.

Not long after federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock praised the stability he brought to the court, Justice Nicholson said he did not regret responding to unfair attacks by politicians or the media on judges.

"This has become a more important role as attorneys-general have become less prepared to undertake their traditional role of the defence of the courts," he said.

Appointed in 1988, Justice Nicholson, 65, was only the second chief judge of the Australian Family Court.

END