{"id":123,"date":"2020-10-21T09:50:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T23:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/judicialresearch\/?page_id=123"},"modified":"2025-12-11T13:46:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T03:16:15","slug":"news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/judicialresearchproject\/news\/","title":{"rendered":"News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Current News<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n

After more than 25 years, the Judicial Research Project is leaving its physical office space and becoming virtual, still within Flinders University.\u00a0 We look forward to continuing to give presentations and to complete and publish work now underway. The Project website, email, and phone will continue to operate, and we will update the website with news.<\/p>\n

All confidential Project materials have been disposed of securely.<\/p>\n

Upcoming presentations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In May 2026, Sharyn and Kathy will be participating in a roundtable discussion of Research, Methods and Data in Law and Emotion, at the 2026 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, USA.<\/p>\n

Publications and Presentations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our chapter, \u2018Impartiality, bias and emotion in everyday judicial work\u2019 is included in the recently published\u00a0Research Handbook on Judging and the Judiciary, <\/em>Sophie Turenne and Mohammed Moussa (eds).<\/p>\n

An invited Spanish translation of our refereed journal article \u2018A sociological perspective on emotion work and judging\u2019 has been published in Mujeres en la justicia<\/em>. <\/strong>This journal is published by the Mexican Supreme Court\u2019s Gender Equality Directorate and is sent via email to all members of Mexico\u2019s Federal Judiciary and over 3,850 newsletter subscribers. Roach Anleu, Sharyn and Kathy Mack (2024) \u2018Una perspectiva sociol\u00f3gica sobre el trabajo emocional y la funci\u00f3n judicial\u2019 , Mujeres en la justicia<\/em> 5(3): 86-128, previously published in 2019 in O\u00f1ati Socio-Legal Series<\/em> 9(5): 831-851.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.scjn.gob.mx\/comite-igualdad-genero\/revista-mujeres-en-la-justica<\/a><\/p>\n

In September 2025, Kathy gave a virtual presentation entitled \u2018Emotion, impartiality and judging\u2019, for the Judicial College of Victoria, co-authored by Sharyn and co-presented with Judge Tony Hopkins of the Northern Territory Local Court and an Honorary Associate Professor at ANU College of Law.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/judicialcollege.vic.edu.au\/events\/emotion-compassion-and-judging<\/a><\/p>\n

In May 2025, Sharyn gave a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Law & Society Association in Chicago: \u2018Layers of emotion and judicial identities: Preliminary findings from a national survey\u2019 (co-authored with Kylie Burns, Terese Henning, Jill Hunter, Richard Kemp, Kevin O\u2019Sullivan, Carly Schrever, Natalie Skead, and Kate Warner.<\/p>\n

2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

In December 2024 Sharyn gave a keynote address entitled: \u2018Imagining Imaginative Research Designs (for Socio-Legal Researchers[\u2019]\/Questions)\u2019 at a workshop on Exploring creative research methods in Socio-Legal Studies<\/em>\u2019.\u00a0 The workshop is a joint event sponsored by Latrobe Law School and the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation at Monash Law, also sponsored by the Law & Society Association of Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Sharyn is also a co-author with Kate Rossmanith and Katie Barclay of a forthcoming article: \u2018How do Researchers Study Emotion in and around Law?\u2019 Emotions and Society<\/em> 18pp (online first).<\/p>\n

Roach Anleu, Sharyn and Kathy Mack (2024) \u2018Una perspectiva sociol\u00f3gica sobre el trabajo emocional y la funci\u00f3n judicial\u2019 , Mujeres en la justicia<\/em> 5(3): 86-128 https:\/\/www.scjn.gob.mx\/comite-igualdad-genero\/revista-mujeres-en-la-justica<\/a>\u00a0 This is a Spanish translation of our article \u2018A sociological perspective on emotion work and judging\u2019 previously published in 2019 in Onati Socio-Legal Series<\/em> 9(5):831-851. The journal is published by the Mexican Supreme Court\u2019s Gender Equality Directorate and is sent via email to all members of Mexico\u2019s Federal Judiciary and over 3,850 newsletter subscribers.<\/p>\n

In November 2024 Kathy gave a presentation as part of the South Australian all courts Judicial Development Day, entitled \u201cJudicial performance, emotion and wellbeing: Individual, organisational and ethical perspectives\u201d. This was co-authored by Sharyn and co-presented with Dr. Denise Keenan of Cognition psychologists, the Employee Assistance Program provider for the Courts Administration Authority for all judicial officers.<\/p>\n

Also in November, Kathy spoke in one of a series of panels sponsored by the Jeff Bleich Centre at Flinders commenting on the US election results as they came in. Her particular focus was the Senate and its implications for the US Federal judiciary.<\/p>\n

In June 2024, Sharyn attended the Annual Meeting of the Law &Society Association in Denver Colorado USA. She presented a paper, co-authored with Kathy, \u201cReinforcing the ideal of the emotionless judge: the limits of individual judicial emotion self-management\u201d, as part of the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) 42 Law and Emotion program. Sharyn is one of three co-chairs of CRN 42.<\/p>\n

Kathy and Sharyn, along with Sharyn\u2019s co-author Professor Brian Opeskin, have been involved in projects for the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration, addressing the importance of diversity in the judiciary overall, as well as other qualities important for judging, including emotion.<\/p>\n

Mack, Kathy, Suggested Criteria for Judicial Appointment<\/em> (AIJA, February 2024) https:\/\/aija.org.au\/publications\/suggested-criteria-for-judicial-appointments-2024-update\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Opeskin, Brian and Sharyn Roach Anleu,\u00a0Judicial Diversity in Australia: A Roadmap for Data Collection<\/em><\/a> (AIJA, August 2023)<\/p>\n

The focus of these reports is the distinct context of the Australian judiciary, while drawing on research and commentary relating to judicial appointment, diversity and data collection from a range of jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

These reports are readily available online from the AIJA, and we appreciate their support for this work.<\/p>\n

2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 10 September, a special issue of the Australian Law Journal<\/em> on the judiciary was launched at a conference on Enduring Courts in Changing Times<\/em>. This issue contains an article co-authored by Kathy and Sharyn entitled \u2018Managing Judicial Performance: The (changing) ethical infrastructure\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Research Committee on the Sociology of Law (RCSL) held a conference in Lund Sweden from 30 August to 1 September.\u00a0 Sharyn attended in her capacity as (outgoing) Vice President of the RCSL and presented a paper co-authored with Kathy: \u2018Divergent emotion norms in judicial work\u2019.\u00a0 She then travelled to Stockholm to participate in the Just Emotions Symposium:\u00a0 Constructing Objectivity \u2013 Emotions in Legal Decision-Making\u00a0<\/em>between 4-6 September 2023.<\/p>\n

On 25 July 2023, Kathy participated in a virtual event sponsored by the Berkeley Judicial institute at the University of California, Berkeley, entitled \u2018Judicial Emotion: Risks and Resources\u2019. \u00a0She was interviewed by Judge Kevin Burke about the place of emotion in everyday judicial work, especially ways that emotion and humour can make the courtroom a more positive experience for judges and court users.\u00a0 The recording of that event can be viewed on the BJI events page: https:\/\/www.law.berkeley.edu\/research\/bji\/events\/judicial-emotions\/<\/a><\/p>\n

In April, Sharyn and Kathy participated virtually in a hybrid online and in-person workshop held in Cambridge England. \u00a0Sharyn and Kathy\u2019s draft chapter entitled: \u201cImpartiality, bias and emotion in everyday judicial work\u201d received valuable comments and questions from the discussant Rachel Cahill-O\u2019Callaghan and other participants.\u00a0 The paper is currently being revised for inclusion in the Handbook on Judging and the Judiciary<\/em>, edited by Sophie Turenne.<\/p>\n

In May, Sharyn gave a well-received presentation, co-authored with Kathy, to the South Australian Magistrates Court, entitled: \u201cEmotions in Judicial Work and Judicial Wellbeing.\u201d This was a welcome opportunity to share findings with courts and judicial officers who have participated in the research over many years.<\/p>\n

Also in May, Sharyn participated in an international workshop on Emotion, Remorse and the Law: Future Directions, at Macquarie University, where she talked about the research that the Judicial Research Project has undertaken over the past two decades.<\/p>\n

Sharyn presented a paper, co-authored with Kathy, entitled: \u201cAmbivalent emotions:\u00a0 From Durkheim\u2019s Le Suicide<\/em> to coroners\u2019 reports into judicial suicide\u201d as part of the Law and Emotion Collaborative Research Network (CRN 42) at the Law & Society Association Annual Meeting on Law and Society held 1-4 June in San Juan, Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n

Sharyn and Kathy\u2019s chapter \u201cConstructing Remorse: Interactional Dimensions of Finding an Emotion\u201d has just been published in Criminal Justice and the Ideal Defendant in the Making of Remorse and Responsibility <\/em>(Hart 2023) edited by Stewart Field and Cyrus Tata.\u00a0 This collection is part of the O\u00f1ati International Series in Law and Society; it has been warmly endorsed by leading scholars as \u201c a groundbreaking \u2026 volume\u201d \u201ca dazzling contribution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other research contributions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among her important research leadership roles, Sharyn is a Vice-President of the Research Committee on the Sociology of Law, a co-convenor of the Law and Emotion Collaborative Research Network 42 of the Law & Society Association and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Sociology<\/em>.\u00a0 She is also a member of the International Board of the Centre for Legal Studies, Cardiff University and a Visiting Professor, International Institute of the Sociology of Law O\u00f1ati, Spain.<\/p>\n

Sharyn is continuing her work a Chief Investigator (one of eight) on a large Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant announced late in 2021, entitled: Judges\u2019 work, place and psychological health \u2013 a national view. \u00a0<\/em>The grant is being administered through the University of New South Wales.\u00a0 Combining socio-legal and psychological approaches, the project will generate new knowledge about the stress judicial officers experience, the resulting psychological harm, and the human, juridical and financial costs of this harm. Expected outcomes include evidence-based strategies for recruitment and retention of judicial officers, including individual and institutional management of stressors. This research should provide significant benefits for judicial work capacities and courts\u2019 delivery of justice.<\/p>\n

2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keynote\/plenary presentations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In July, Sharyn was the in-person plenary speaker to a conference entitled Psychological mechanisms in criminal justice:\u00a0 Deconstructing objectivity<\/em>, held at the Institute for Criminology, University of Slovenia, Ljubljiana. The presentation was entitled \u201cDeconstructing Impartiality: Emotion in Sentencing\u201d.<\/p>\n

In addition, at the Postgraduate Day of the TASA conference in Melbourne, Australia in November, Sharyn delivered a keynote entitled: ‘My Life as an Academic: Practical Suggestions to Make it Work’.<\/p>\n

Presentations and workshop organisation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

During 2022, Sharyn was a co-organiser for three successful in-person workshops.<\/p>\n