The Judicial Conduct Commissioner’s 2021-22 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament on 18 October 2022.

In its sixth year of operation, the office continues to perform an important role in maintaining public confidence in the judicial system.

Appointed to the role in January, Judicial Conduct Commissioner Michael Boylan KC is responsible for investigating complaints made about judicial officers and their conduct in South Australia.

This includes inappropriate conduct, both in and outside the court, conflicts of interest and significant delays in delivering judgements or decisions.

During the 2021-22 period, the Commissioner received 79 complaints.

As with previous years, most of these were dismissed or did not require further action due to not being within the JCC’s purview.

In particular, the Commissioner saw the number of complaints relating to judicial decisions increase by more than double, from 15 in 2020-21 to 33 in the 2021-22 financial year.

“The role of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner continues to be misunderstood,” he said.

“The majority of matters received were in the form of a request for a review of a judicial decision. This is not within the JCC’s jurisdiction.”

“Many complainants did not understand the distinction between the conduct of a judicial officer and their judicial decisions, viewing the JCC as that of an appeal court.”

The annual report also showed there were fewer complaints made in relation to workplace bullying or harassment.

“I am pleased to report that during the 2021-22 year there were no complaints of sexual harassment by a judicial officer.”

The Judicial Conduct Commissioner’s annual report is available on the JCC website.