Decision-makers must make unbiased decisions. Accordingly where there is a perception of bias a decision-maker should be disqualified and the decision should be made by another person.
This book examines the disqualification principle and the test that courts apply in different contexts. The application of the principle is examined in the context of judges, jurors, administrative decision-makers, inquiries, local government, sporting clubs, political decisions, international tribunals and military tribunals.
Disqualification for Bias also examines the remedies available where a person alleges that a decision-maker should be disqualified. Many practical issues are also examined including procedural issues.
A detailed examination of relevant case law and statutes from a number of jurisdictions including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada is also included.
This book provides a most learned and exhaustive coverage of a most significant aspect of our law and of legal systems generally – the need to ensure we do not live in a Kafkaesque world of biased judges and other decision-makers. Anyone having occasion to deal with a question of bias – or a supposed question of bias – simply should be consulting his book if they want a thorough and authoritative coverage of the subject.
Damien J Cremean, Australian Journal of Administrative Law, 2013, 20
Given the breadth and enormity of the subject, practitioners and decision-makers alike will be grateful that for the first time in Australia a text has been published that deals with this difficult area in a comprehensive manner. Professor Tarrant provides the perfect balance by explaining the various rationales and historical underpinnings of the doctrine while also providing useful guidance as to the practical considerations that arise.
Arthur Moses SC, Frederick Jordan Chambers – Australian Bar Review – 2013, 36, p323-325
We all know the concept of the fair minded observer. We all know the safeguards embodied in our Rules of Practice which dictate when we should decline a brief. However, it is unlikely that any of us has considered, in the depth that the subject has been given by Mr. Tarrant, the issues encompassed in the term, “disqualification for bias” as it applies to us and the situations that may arise in our professional dealings in the Courts.
If an issue arises on which you need to gain a deep understanding of this topic, I thoroughly recommend this very easy to follow and interesting text book.
Brian Morgan, Hearsay, October 2012, 57
This book focuses on the scope and application of the disqualification for bias principle pertaining to a decision-maker. In the words of the author, the book “is designed to provide both a historical development of this area of the law as well as a practical guide to the application of the disqualification principle”. Measured against this aim, the book is a success. It first provides an excellent introduction to the area of law, and then takes the reader into in-depth discussions.
The book is well-suited for academics, practitioners and decision-makers. Overall, the author seems to have achieved the fine balance between academic discourse and practical applicability.
David Kim, Barrister – Law Institute Journal – September 2012, 86 (09) LIJ, p68
