Complaints about judicial conduct of magistrates (including acting magistrates) and judicial registrars in Queensland are managed by the Chief Magistrate in accordance with the Magistrates Complaints Policy.
Complaints may be made about judicial conduct or delays in the delivery of reserved judgments. This includes concerns about behaviour or professional conduct in court or in connection with a case in the Magistrates Court.
How to make a complaint
You can make a complaint by:
Contact details must be included in the complaint, including your full name, postal or email address and contact telephone number.
Your complaint must include the magistrates court location, details of the relevant events, case name and file number (if known), any evidence that supports your complaint, whether you have reported your complaint to any else, and any action you would like to see because of your complaint. Complaints that lack substance may not be responded to.
If correspondence includes threats of violence, abusive language, or other intimidating or harassing content:
- we may decide not to respond to that correspondence (in whole or in part), and/or limit future contact to a single nominated channel; and/or
- the correspondence may be referred to the Queensland Police Service for assessment and investigation, including where we consider there may be a risk to staff or others.
This warning does not prevent you from making a complaint. If you wish to continue with your complaint, please do so using respectful language and focusing on the issues you want considered.
Some complaint matters have different management processes. If your complaint relates to any of the following matters, it will not be considered by the Chief Magistrate:
- reviewing or overturning court decisions - complaints about the outcome of a case or disagreement with a magistrate’s decision will not be responded to and should be pursued through the appropriate appeal process;
- judicial officers of other courts or QCAT members;
- parties to a matter or their legal representatives;
- police officers; or
- Department of Justice staff, including court registry staff.
