Law Internet Resources

Legal Profession and the Courts

This guide contains links to Internet resources and documents in the area of the legal profession and the federal courts, as well as providing links to other guides and directories which contain material on State and Territory and overseas law. Although the regulation of the legal profession is a State and Territory matter, there are moves by the Council of Australian Governments to bring uniformity to this area.

• Commonwealth Attorney-General (History and Role)
• Court and Judges
• Legal Profession (Barristers, Solicitors, Justices of the Peace)
• Legal Aid see Welfare Law
• Links to Other Australian Sites (State organisations, Pathfinders, Directories etc)
• Overseas Sites

Commonwealth Attorney-General (History and Role)

• Recent articles on the Attorney-General (from Parliamentary Library Journals database)
• 2002 The Role of the Attorney-General (D. Williams). The Attorney-General's point of view
• 2002 The Role of the Attorney-General (G. Carney). An academic's point of view
• 1999 The Attorney-General, politics and the judiciary (L. King). A judge's point of view
• 1997 Report on the Review of the Attorney-General's Legal Practice. Chapter 3. Role of the Attorney-General. The Department's point of view

Courts and Judges

• Attorney-General's Department, Federal Courts Branch
  Administers the federal courts. Provides information on the process governing the selection and appointment of federal judges
• Australian Institute of Judicial Administration
  The principal objectives of the Institute include research into judicial administration and the development and conduct of educational programmes for judicial officers, court administrators and members of the legal profession in relation to court administration and judicial systems
• Judicial Conference of Australia
  The JCA was established in 1993 with the aim to maintain a strong and independent judiciary within a democratic society which adheres to the rule of law. Includes papers presented at its annual symposium
• High Court of Australia. Speeches made by judges
• Judicial Conference of Australia
  Contains material on the role of judges and judicial independence including papers presented at the annual symposium of the JCA
• National Judicial College of Australia
  Provides programs and professional development resources to judicial officers. Includes conference papers on judicial education and other topics eg children and the courts

Courts and Judges - Publications

Journals

• Australian bar review
  Contents page of latest issue

Reports etc

• Halsburys laws of Australia. (Commercial publication. Not available outside Parliament)
  • Title 25. Arbitration;
  • Title 105. Contempt;
  • Title 115. Coroners;
  • Title 125 Courts and Judicial System;
  • Title 190. Estoppel;
  • Title 195. Evidence;
  • Title 325. Practice and Procedure  
• The Laws of Australia (Law Book Co). Title 5. Civil Procedure; Title 13. Dispute Resolution; Title 16. Evidence
  Commercial publication. Not available outside Parliament
• Productivity Commission. Reports on Government Services
  Annual reports on courts are included under 'Justice'

• 2009 Access to Justice (Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs)
• 2009 Australia's Judicial System and the Role of Judges (Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs)
• 2008 Policy on the Process of Judicial Appointments (Law Council of Australia)

Legal Profession (Barristers, Solicitors, Justices of the Peace)

• Australian Lawyers Alliance (formerly the Australian Plaintiff Lawyers Association)
  Aan association of lawyers and other professionals devoted to the protection and enhancement of the rights of those injured or adversely affected by wrongdoers, and dedicated to injury prevention through safer products, workplaces and other environments
• Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Legal Profession Reform
  In 2009, at the request of COAG, the Australian Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, established a Taskforce to prepare draft legislation to uniformly regulate the legal profession across Australia. Consultation closed in August 2010
  • Articles and press releases on National Legal Profession Reform (from the Parliamentary Library databases)
• Law Council of Australia
  The national organisation representing approximately 56,000 Australian legal professionals through its constituent member Bar Associations and Law Societies. See under "Program areas" for statements on a national legal profession
• Lawyers Weekly
  Newletter containing news of interest to the legal profession
• Links to lawyers, lawyers' organisations, legal aid centres, legal services and patent attorneys (via AUSTLII)
   
• Halsburys laws of Australia. Title 250. Legal Practitioners
  Commercial publication. Not available outside Parliament

Links to Other Australian Sites (Pathfinders, Directories etc)

• via AUSTLII
• via Australian Professional Liability Blog (news and links to legal profession discipline and regulation)
• via Caslon Analytics - Law (select 'Courts' or 'Profession' for regulatory material and links to legislation)
• via Foundation Law (links to home pages of courts and tribunals)
• via University of Wollongong (Resources for Law Courts and Tribunals)

Overseas links to legal profession and the courts

• Federation of Law Societies of Canada
• International Association For Court Administration
• International Bar Association
• Law Society of England and Wales
  Includes material on the regulation of the legal profession
• Legal Profession Blog : A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network (latest US news)
• New Zealand Law Society
• Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA)
  

Comments to: catherine.lorimer@aph.gov.au
Last reviewed 8 June, 2011 by the Parliamentary Library Web Manager
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