Professional development: learning from others

Recently all Queensland Magistrates were circulated a detailed plan for the 'Queensland Magistrates Development Project' (the project). The project is contentious and brings into focus the tension between accountability and judicial independence. In essence the project offers you an opportunity for judicial self-improvement based on your personal observations, opinions of a trusted mentor, and statistical data from participants in the magistrates court process. This paper is concerned with outlining a project to enable you to learn from others who participate in the work of the court. For many magistrates judicial performance evaluation is a fearsome prospect, one hell bent on undermining judicial independence and centuries of legal tradition. Others take a more liberal view and see the potential for performance evaluation as a useful tool for professional self-development. These contrasting views are based on different perceptions of what the concept of judicial performance evaluation may involve.