Leading legal figures gathered at Australian Catholic University in Brisbane to mark the first International Day for Judicial Wellbeing, a landmark global initiative backed by the UN General Assembly. Source: The Catholic Leader.
The event recognised the rising mental, emotional and physical toll faced by members of the judiciary worldwide and highlighted the importance of reform, research and wellbeing support systems for judicial officers.
Paul de Jersey, former chief justice of Queensland and governor of Queensland, and Jesuit Fr Frank Brennan, an Adjunct Professor at ACU’s Thomas More Law School, were among those who addressed the event.
ACU played a central role in the UN’s declaration of July 25 as the International Day for Judicial Wellbeing and has since become a key player in ongoing research and education efforts in the field.
Anne Pickering, teaching and research academic and course co-ordinator of the Bachelor of Laws at ACU’s Thomas More Law School, said the initiative emerged from a landmark 2023 declaration spearheaded by Justice Rangajeeva Wimalasena, president of the Nauru Court of Appeal.
“Justice Wimalasena gathered 18 global judicial leaders who signed the Nauru Declaration on July 25 last year,” Dr Pickering said.
“This was strongly supported by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and it marked the beginning of this international movement.”
Dr Pickering said the ACU-led Global Judicial Wellbeing Webinar in October 2023, which drew participants from 45 countries, solidified the university’s commitment to judicial mental health.
ACU has since collaborated on an UN- and partner-funded study focused on judicial wellbeing in the Pacific region.
Dr Pickering, a former solicitor and advocate for legal wellbeing, said judicial wellbeing was often overlooked, even though high emotional tolls could impact decision-making, especially in complex cases.
“The legal profession has been discussing lawyer wellbeing for over a decade, but judges were rarely part of that conversation,” she said.
“Judges are expected to remain stoic, but they are human too.”
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Top legal figures judge wellbeing day a success at ACU Brisbane (By Paige Furner, The Catholic Leader)
