Power Without Consequence: Australia’s Judicial Problem

Above the Law: Australia’s Judiciary Exposed

The Australian High Court is being asked something embarrassingly basic: are judges bound by the law, or merely in charge of it? This case exists because a man was wrongfully imprisoned over a family property dispute. Not a crime. Not violence. A civil matter that ended in a jail cell because a judge exercised power he did not have. That judge was . The Federal Court called it what it was in 2023 and awarded more than $300,000 in damages, including $50,000 personally payable by the judge. That single fact, not the unlawful loss of liberty, is why the judiciary is panicking.

Judicial immunity was never meant to be a permission slip for reckless judgment or unlawful detention. Police are liable for it. Governments are liable for it. Ordinary citizens go to prison for it. Judges alone argue that accountability might make them “hesitant”. Good. Anyone with the power to imprison should hesitate. If the High Court restores absolute immunity, it confirms that judges can destroy lives without consequence. If it draws a line at jurisdiction, it reminds the bench of a truth it seems to have forgotten: authority is not divinity, and respect is not automatic when power is abused.