New Judicial Commission Gets Power to Investigate and Discipline WA Judges
Judicial Commission Bill 2026
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Commission can compel a person to provide information or documents during a preliminary examination.
Investigating panels can issue summonses to force people to give evidence or produce documents, and the presiding member can issue arrest warrants for people who ignore a summons.
Supreme Court judges can issue search warrants for premises, vehicles, vessels or aircraft to find relevant material.
The investigating authority can force a respondent officer to undergo medical or psychiatric exams if they seem unfit for duty
Fines of ,000 apply for refusing to answer questions, ignoring requests for information, or failing to provide information or documents without a reasonable excuse.
Fines of 4,000 apply for bribing witnesses, inducing witnesses to give false testimony or withhold truth, or wilfully preventing a summoned witness from attending or producing evidence.
Evidence that incriminates a person cannot be used against them in court; this doesn't apply to perjury or corruption charges
Anyone can make a complaint to the Commission about a judicial officer's conduct; this includes complaints about their mental or physical capacity to work.
Topics
anti-corruption civil liberties court system government oversight investigative powers judicial appointments judicial conduct legal ethics legal rights search warrants witness protection +6 more
News articles and press releases
Independent judicial commission to investigate judges
Tony Buti, WA Attorney-General — 2026-06-14
It’s needed because the judiciary have asked for it themselves, the Law Reform Commission recommended it in their report on the judiciary some years ago.