Noticing that heading you probably thought, what a ridiculous statement. If you did, I’m not surprised – because that is precisely what came to my mind when I heard a politician say the same thing. That statement however stayed with me, and I soon realised that he did not intend it to be interpreted literally. It was merely a headline to attract attention to what he was trying to convey – which was that his country’s judicial system needed to be comprehensively reformed.
While that statement was made by a foreign politician about his country’s judicial system, is our legal system is fit for purpose, does it also need comprehensive reform?
So, let’s consider that question:
Is our criminal justice system adequately protecting our property from theft and protecting us from attack? Statistics reveal a troubling reality: last year there were 65,000 vehicle thefts, 196,600 home invasions, and 395,000 physical assaults. Many of which were committed by repeat youth offenders or hardened criminals on parole or early release. Is that level of crime acceptable to you? Not to me it isn’t.
Is our civil justice system meeting our needs? If a government or large corporation wrongs you, can you afford the costs and risks of pursuing justice? Most cannot. Representing yourself risks incurring the opposing party’s legal costs, potentially exceeding a million dollars, with no compensation for your time and effort if you win. Is that fair? I think not. Governments and corporations ignore claims and threaten financial ruin to intimidate people to abandon their claims. Is that fair? I think not.
Is our judicial system protecting us from abuse of power? Some courageous individuals who have alerted us to wrongful behaviour by government have been jailed by our courts. Is that in our interests? I think not. Also, no adverse consequences await public officials who behave unconscionably. This shows that rather than protecting us, our courts are giving public officials immunity. Is that in our interests? Clearly not.
Is our judicial system adequately protecting us from government overreach? It fell well short during the Covid period, allowing our State and Federal governments to impose draconian restrictions on us despite having scant evidence to justify it. Have any politicians or public officials been held accountable for their deceit and incompetence? Not that I’m aware of.
Is our judiciary protecting beneficiaries from unscrupulous individuals who persuade an elderly, frail parent to make a new Will predominantly in their favour, basically disinheriting other children? No, it is not, not even close! In this area of law our judicial system is worse than incompetent – it is causing significant damage in society, protecting negligent lawyers and failing abysmally in both its core role of administering justice. Also, the process for getting a decision is grossly in efficient, and the cost of getting a decision is so outrageously expensive that most Australians reasonably conclude that they do not have access to the courts for a decision. It is absurd that we tolerate a judicial system that practically excludes most of us. Does our judiciary care? Not one iota!
It should cost no more than about $20,000 to get an expert decision on capacity and undue influence, but it costs about $800,000. Is this in the interests of the testators? No. Executors? No. Beneficiaries? No. So, who is benefiting at their expense? Lawyers of course! In addition to that, the law for determining capacity and undue influence invariably results in grossly unfair outcomes. Does our judiciary care? Not at all! And that’s not the least of it. Our judiciary prevents parties from resolving matters without having to initiate legal proceedings – by depriving them of information crucial to their decision. This is beyond absurd! Who benefits from it? Yes, you got it, the lawyers again! Not the testator, not the executor and not the beneficiaries.
When you get your day in court, whether in the criminal or civil courts, what do you expect of the judiciary? You would expect the judges to be honest, to weigh the evidence, to be impartial and to hand down a fair decision. I found the opposite to be the case. In fact, I was gobsmacked by the wilful dishonesty of judges. This was not an innocent mistake, not negligence, not even a reckless indifference to the truth. It was knowingly dishonest. I was also gobsmacked by their ignoring their fundamental duty of administering justice, unquestionably allowing dishonest and misleading claims by a public official, and a lot more. Comparing the judgements to the facts, shows that our Supreme Courts are kangaroo courts, willing to stoop to whatever depths necessary to find in favour of government, even stooping into wilful dishonesty.
These matters have led me to conclude that we have a major problem with our legal system, and that a major overhaul is needed. It is vital that we hold our judiciary to account. It is beyond absurd that nobody is doing so and that it is virtually impossible to get rid of, to fire, incompetent and dishonest judges. This needs to change. Judges need to be assessed on performance, and poor performers need to be weeded out, fired, and more serious consequences should await any who have been dishonest, biased, had a reckless indifference to the truth or failed abysmally in their core function of administering justice. These “more serious consequences” could include losing their lifelong pension entitlement and even imprisonment. Judges who have been blatantly dishonest should be put behind bars.
To quote American Economist, Thomas Sowel – “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” Yet that’s precisely what we’ve allowed for our judiciary.
I tried to bring this to the attention of our mainstream media, various podcasters, various politicians and various political parties, but none were even interested in considering it, not even in receiving a summary of it. That is both puzzling and worrying. Are these parties too afraid to hold our judiciary to account? It would appear so.
This failure by our system of government and media to hold our judiciary to account was a major factor in my deciding to establish Classic Liberals. Currently, it is the only party that shows any interest in holding our judiciary to account. Hopefully all others will do the same. We all need to pressure them to do so.
Written by Mark M.J. Morris (July 2026)