The Australian reports allegations of nepotism on how judges appointment their associates:
CONCERN over the potential for nepotism and abuse has triggered a push to reform one of the last unaccountable privileges of judicial office: the ancient right of judges to select their own associates.
This follows a recent incident in NSW involving senior District Court Judge Phillip Ronald Bell, who appointed as his associate a law student working as a waiter in an up-market restaurant, after the student approached him during dinner.
The associate was later dismissed for having pornography on his work computer.
Read the full report here. Although there are no doubt some examples of nepotism, the practice is nowhere near as common or problematic as the story makes out.
