Australian Judges and the Rising Tide of Litigants in Person

This paper will consider changes in the practices of the Australian judiciary resulting from rapid increases in the numbers of litigants in person. The increase in litigants in person is a cause of judicial concern from the High Court of Australia to local courts. Chief Justice Gleeson of the High Court has expressed strong concerns regarding the 28% of litigants appearing unrepresented in matters heard before a single High Court judge. Australian courts rely on adversarial adjudication models premised on equally matched sides able to present their respective cases comprehensively and skillfully to a detached and impartial adjudicator. Where one party is not legally represented, this fundamentally challenges the balance and brings into issue the role of the adjudicator. The paper will consider whether the efforts of judges and magistrates to assist litigants in person serve 'only to gloss over procedural injustice' or whether they can preserve the fairness of the trial process. The responses of judges and magistrates in family law and criminal law contexts will be the main focus as these are the areas where litigants in person have generated greatest concern.