National Judicial Orientation Program, March/April 2025

This program is open to newly appointed judges of the Supreme, Federal, Federal Circuit, District & County Courts.

The learning outcomes of the program is to assist newly appointed judicial officers with their transition to judicial office by facilitating the development and refinement of the skills, knowledge, and attributes necessary for effective judging.

Successive steering committees of experienced judges and judicial education professionals have contributed to the program since the program’s inception in 1994. The program offers insights into the role and responsibilities of a member of the judiciary. Participants benefit from the knowledge and experience of senior judges who attend the program as speakers, and the exchange of ideas and experiences with other participants from across courts and across jurisdictions.

This is a five-and-a-half-day residential program commencing Sunday evening. Many sessions are interactive and encourage robust discussion. Participants will discuss a range of practical scenarios.

The overarching themes are impartiality, independence and judicial excellence.  These three themes are the golden thread running through the program sessions with a focus on the exercise of attributes and skills required for judicial officers to deal with the complexities of firstly finding themselves on the bench and staying there for the long term.  The power and scope of exercising discretion, the pitfalls of various kinds of bias, the skills of issues-based judgment writing are also strongly woven through the program design.

NJOP is open to newly appointed Judges/Justices only.

The learning outcomes are specifically designed to provide participants with the judicial skills necessary to facilitate and enhance their transition to a role on the bench.  Several sessions are interactive and scenario based, dedicated to experiential learning in the courtroom. Other sessions encompass ethical issues, through to questions around judicial life and an introduction to the 5C’s judgment writing.  In particular, at the end of this program participants will be able to:

• Identify and evaluate the ethical issues facing judges both in and out of the courtroom
• Unpack how to make an informed assessment of witness credibility (honesty) and witness reliability (memory and recall) including taking into account some common social context issues, demeanour and language;
• Develop awareness of the extent to which their own social context perceptions can led to unconscious bias;
• Understand the intricacies of both civil and criminal trial procedure;
• Identify the judicial skills critical to the giving of oral decisions and an introduction to the 5C’s of judgment writing; and
• Appreciate the life tools required to maintain judicial self- care.

This sharing of experience and practice, led by experienced judges and facilitators, will enable newly appointment judges to return to their respective courts and respective jurisdictions with targeted knowledge and understanding, instantly applicable judicial skills, and a deeper appreciation of social contextual issues.

Accommodation and breakfast: check in Sun 30 March from 3 pm and check out Fri 4 April by 11 am

Catering during program hours

Program dinners on Sunday and Thursday evenings