1. Primary Source

Scott v Scott [1913] AC 417 (House of Lords)

1. Importance of the Source

The case forms the jurisprudence for open justice in all commonwealth countries including Australia. The case will be contrasted with Russell v Russell (1976) 134 CLR 495 that does not fully endorse open justice. The case also brings out the role of the judiciary and parliament in promoting open justice which is important to investigate the areas of weakness in the implementation of open justice and which arm of the government would be best suited to promote democracy through open justice.

1. Research Methodology

When going through the resources I intend to use in the research, the case came up in several sources as the starting point for precedent in the open justice concept. I accessed the full judgment using the Lexis Advance via the La Trobe University Library’s Expert Help Guide for Law, and then typed ‘Scott v Scott 1913’ in the ‘Catchwords/Summary’ search field.

2. Peer Reviewed Journal Article

Cunliffe Emma, “Open Justice: Concepts and Judicial Approaches” (2012) 40 Fed L Rev 385

1. Importance of the Source

The article provides an introduction to open justice by explaining how the concept of open justice as an aspect of democracy is provided for in the justice system in Australia. The article also illustrate the narrow instances where there is an exception to open justice and why such instances are justifiable. The article compares open justice in Australia and Canada which helps to broaden the perspective for the study by understanding the practice in other jurisdictions.

1. Research Methodology

In the initial research, I wanted to fully comprehend how the open justice concept is applied in Australia and upon typing open justice in Australia, I scrolled down to the fourth link as it was the full journal and it compared two jurisdictions (Australia and Canada) that have slight differences in how open justice is applied in the countries.

3. A book

Jiménéz-Gómez, Carlos and Gascó-Hernández, Mila, Achieving Open Justice through Citizen Participation and Transparency (2016)

1. Importance of the Source

The book discusses 21^st century suggestions to promote open justice through avenues like online dispute resolution, e-justice, access to judicial records by having an open judiciary as well as website portals for the judiciary. The book covers open justice in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

1. Research Methodology

The book was available on the N/A Library’s homepage when I was searching on how to promote open justice in the 21^st century especially with the advancement in technology and the recent restrictions that the Covid-19 has brought on open justice.

Total Word Count: 437 words