The President of the New South Wales Bar Association has issued a Media Release today stating that personal attacks on members of the judiciary in the context of particular judgments undermine public confidence in the justice system. The Release notes that there has been recent criticism from media outlets and from a minister of the Crown of various sentencing decisions by a District Court judge which have been the subject of appeals to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal by the director of public prosecutions. The Release points out that:
- trial judges must determine matters in good faith in the context of the available evidence and the demeanour of the witnesses who give evidence;
- complex facts and evidentiary issues arise in criminal trials; and
- the justice system has its own checks and balances in the form of the system of appeals in New South Wales.
