Announcing NJCA’s Pathway to Excellence in Judgment Writing

Registrations for WBJ I, WBJ II and WBJ III in 2025 are now open

The NJCA announced our Pathway for Judicial Excellence in Judgment Writing several years ago now – a pathway designed by judges for judges, to give a structured and transparent approach to the training and ongoing professional development of judicial officers in the art and craft of judgment writing throughout their judicial career.

It was noted in the 2021 ALRC Report: Without Fear or Favour that “although significant progress has been made in relation to judicial education in Australia, coverage is still described as ‘patchy’, and judicial education is not transparently tracked or reported across jurisdictions.” And, it was further stated that “there is currently no publicly available curriculum or professional development pathway for Commonwealth judges. This means that, although a significant number of judicial education courses may be available, covering issues important for supporting judicial impartiality, there is no clear or transparent expectation that judges will attend those courses specifically throughout their judicial career.”

The visual representation of the judgment writing pathway shown below outlines the rationale for four distinct programs, a high level description of the judicial learning outcomes and the recommended experience of participants pertinent to each program.