"When a judge imprisons an offender, he or she makes the most significant decision a human being can make in relation to another person in that community". (De Jersey, 2001) In short, this is a way of introducing what this essay is about, the community and the judiciary. As a result of a survey this essay aims to provide information on the public perception of the judiciary, the role of the public in the judicial process and the judiciary's relationship with society, focusing mainly on criminal law. The Collins Dictionary describes the judiciary as "the branch of Government concerned with justice and the legal system". (Harper Collins, 1995) The public is considered to be the population of a country and in this essay, especially those who are over the age of 18 who have been educated and are entitled to vote. There are perceived problems with the judiciary but judges are only human and humans make mistakes and judgments of error. According to the survey, suggestions to have a more effective judiciary include education for all people, a watchdog or overseeing committee and judges elected by the people.
The major stakeholders in the judiciary are those people with direct contact with the judges. The perceptions or opinions of these people can quite often be critical and scrutinizing of the judiciary without them fully knowing exactly what role the judiciary plays in society. "It is the publics right to scrutinize and debate the conduct of our politicians" (The Australian, 2002) so perhaps this could be the case with judges as well.
Problems that the public has with the judiciary can be seen in the survey. They include: judges being too lenient in sentencing, the social status of judges too elevated, remuneration of judges, media influence in the judiciary and mandatory sentencing. Any positive or negative comments in the survey cannot be taken as entirely accurate and can only be a reflection of the amount of knowledge the survey group had of the judiciary.