It is remarkable how closely Americans watch appointments to the US Supreme Court. Can this level of scrutiny really be justified? Part of the explanation for the phenomenon, of course, is the US Bill of Rights, which affords American judges a greater role in the protection of human rights — and therefore in the making of policy.
If Frank Brennan's National Human Rights Consultation Committee were to recommend a bill of rights (albeit not one entrenched in our Constitution), an intriguing question would be what effect such a step would have on the process of appointing Australian judges — and the public scrutiny the process attracts.
