The Curious Case of Judge Vasta

The Wigs

This week the panel look at a truly unusual and interesting decision from Justice Wigney of the Federal Court which involved a serving federal judge being ordered to pay damages for wrongfully imprisoning a man he jailed for contempt of court.

Stradford (a pseudonym) v Judge Vasta 2023 FCA 1020 has already had massive ramifications.

Some judges have reportedly refused to sit since it was handed down, calls for a standing federal judicial commission to investigate judicial misconduct have been renewed and the decision has been appealed by multiple parties setting the stage for a final determination of the limits of judicial immunity at common law.

The judgment of Justice Wigney delved into the fascinating question of when a judge can be sued for conduct on the bench and involved the surveying of hundreds of years of case law on point.

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