Preface

My interest in the judicial institution was heightened by a collaborative work with my late colleague, Emeritus Professor Enid Campbell OBE, AC. The project, funded by an Australian Research Council grant, culminated in The Australian Judiciary, published by Cambridge University Press in 2001. Later, I was privileged to have been invited by Professor Shimon Shetreet (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Professor Christopher Forsyth (Cambridge University) to participate in a series of conferences relating to their international project on judicial independence. That participation further kindled my interest in exploring comparative dimensions of the functioning of the judiciary in contemporary times. It became clear to me that valuable lessons can be learned from the experience of other liberal democracies on how to ensure that the judiciary can continue to play a pivotal role as an independent and impartial entity in a robust democracy.