Attacks undermine judicial confidence: SC
Personal attacks and calls for the resignation of a NSW District Court judge by MPs and the media undermine public confidence in the legal system, a senior barrister says.
NSW Bar Association president Noel Hutley SC has hit out at calls for the resignation of Judge Clive Jeffreys after an appeal court almost doubled the sentence he handed confessed pedophile and former Bega Cheese boss Maurice van Ryn.
Transport Minister and Bega MP Andrew Constance on Tuesday called for Mr Jeffreys to reconsider the position he has held on the bench since March 2011.
Van Ryn, 59, was initially sentenced to seven years jail for regularly abusing nine children, some eight years old, from 2003 until 2014.
The victims were regularly abused at a swimming pool, while one youth was persistently abused under the pretext of van Ryn "helping him with computer games".
The Court of Criminal Appeal earlier this month almost doubled his non-parole period to 13 years and six months after finding Mr Jeffrey's sentence to be manifestly inadequate and "affront to the administration of justice".
Mr Constance said Mr Jeffreys' initial sentence was a slap on the wrist that suggested he made significant error of judgment.
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http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/attacks-on-judges-undermine-confidence-sc/news-story/5...
Part of a democracy is free speech, something which troubles certain members of the Bar. Who recalls members of the Bar voicing their concerns about a rape case a few years back. The female vicitim in that rape case was asked while on the stand if her moaning was because she enjoyed being raped. Not a peep out of the Bar saying that questions like that would make female victims reluctant to report rape cases to the police.
The Bar has some vile members who make up the numbers.
