NCJ Number
215516
Editor(s)
Linda Daniele
Date Published
June 2006
Length
310 pages
Annotation
This book provides New South Wales (Australia) judicial officers with information on the values, cultures, lifestyles, and socioeconomic conditions of nine groups of people who live in New South Wales, with attention to the barriers to these peoples' full and equal participation in court proceedings, barriers that must be addressed by the judicial officers.
Abstract
These groups are Indigenous people, people from an ethnic or migrant background, people with a strong religious affiliation, people with disabilities, children and youth, women, homosexuals and bisexuals, people whose gender identity may be an issue, and parties who act as their own legal representatives. Each section of the book begins with statistical and/or cultural information about the group being discussed. It then provides information and guidance on how judicial officers should treat members of the group from the start to the conclusion of court proceedings. Each section also suggests "practical considerations" in dealing with members of the group in each stage of court proceedings. The general advice provided to judicial officers in dealing with any of the groups discussed is to treat each individual fairly and without discrimination. Emphasis is placed on ways of dealing with the members of a group so that they perceive they are being treated fairly. Judicial officers are advised that acting fairly and equitably for members of any of the nine groups requires that the officer be conscious of his/her personal biases or prejudices regarding defendants from particular groups. Such biases or prejudices must then be neutralized through conscious use of techniques recommended in this book.