Professional development activities should help judicial officers maintain their knowledge and understanding of the law and their capacity to apply the relevant law in their work, including being able to deal with evidentiary issues which arise in the court room. Professional development activities can help judicial officers to keep up to date with changes and developments in the law and to refresh and deepen their knowledge and understanding of existing laws. Of course, only part of the judiciary will be interested in any particular topic, depending on their area of work. In addition, these programs need not necessarily be confined to a particular court or tribunal and could be offered to judicial officers drawn from a number of courts or tribunals who have a common interest in the particular area of the law.
The primary focus of programs in this unit is to maintain knowledge and develop mastery of the law, both substantive and procedural. Programs that facilitate the development of jurisdictional expertise will be important.
Programs in this unit may consider what court room management and administration skills are critical to, or enhance, jurisdictional expertise. This may be particularly relevant for procedural law.
Changes in the law may reflect aspects of society or the social contexts of those before the courts as parties, victims, accused or witnesses. They may also reflect developments in knowledge or in public policy, and consideration of these developments could usefully be included in programs, where appropriate.
Programs in this unit may wish to include a consideration of how personal attitudes and values shape a judicial officer’s response to and perspective on changes in the law.
The courts remain independent of the other branches of government and judicial officers are not subject to improper pressure or influence when making decisions. 10
These programs maintain and update judicial officers’ knowledge and understanding of those areas of the law relevant to their work.
These programs may encompass:
In some cases, a particular course will be relevant for all judicial officers; in other cases, it will be relevant for particular jurisdictions or those working in particular areas of law.