Judges urged to practise good leadership

A WALES-based judge on Wednesday urged members of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges’ Association (CMJA) to practise good leadership as it would make their jobs more enjoyable.
Sir Peter Thornton told the CMJA conference in Port Moresby that to be a good leader, it was important to “understand your role, give priorities to working relationships, lead the way to demonstrate you are in charge, play to your strengths such as starting on time, manage pessimistic thinking and assess your leadership from time to time.
“This does not mean you tell other judges what to do,” he said.
Sir Peter said in terms of taking leadership and gaining public trust, judges needed to take responsibility and not make excuses.
“I remember one time relatives of a deceased were waiting for a judge to preside over a case,” he said.
“The judge came in 20 minutes late.
“The waiting brings questions if the coroner would deal with their case.”
He said such delays would also be questioned by the public.
“The public can question whether the judge was ready for the case or if he/she was going through their case at the last minute.
“It is a small story but very symbolic.”
In terms of assessing leadership from time to time, Sir Peter said this was to make sure judges were getting things right when making reviews of their progress.
“Continuous reviews of progress would also allow judges to make changes where it was necessary.”