A new complaints authority to hear gripes about judges and a committee to advise the Governor on appointing them are on the Government agenda, according to the Speech from the Throne.Chief Justice Ian Kawaley called for those measures in April, shortly after he was appointed as Bermuda’s top judge, and now Government plans to propose them to the Governor.Mr Justice Kawaley told The Royal Gazette at the time: ”I would like to see us develop a more modern machinery for receiving and adjudicating complaints against the judiciary. That might be seen by some, looking at it superficially, to be diminishing judicial independence by exposing judges to more complaints than are currently made.“However, if you look at it more deeply it strengthens it because if the public have a vehicle to make a complaint, where complaints are not made out, the credibility of the judiciary is strengthened in that way.”Mr Justice Kawaley said at present, there is no formal statutory procedure in Bermuda for making complaints. If a member of the public has a gripe about a judge other than the Chief Justice, then it must be directed to the Chief Justice. If it does involve the top judge then it must go the Governor.On the topic of selecting judges, he called for “a more coherent procedure for selecting and appointing judges which is more consistent with what I would call best Commonwealth practice in the area today”. At the moment, judicial appointments are decided upon by the Governor on what Mr Justice Kawaley described as an “ad hoc basis as the need arises”.He suggested that a formal Judicial Service Committee could be set up in Bermuda as in most independent Commonwealth countries to make such decisions, or simply an informal advisory committee to assist the Governor.According to the Speech from the Throne, Government agrees that the measures are needed.The speech said Government will “propose to the Governor the establishment of a Judicial Complaints Authority to address complaints from the public, which currently is denied the right to seek redress in circumstances of abuse of power by adjudicators. It will bring Bermuda in line with other modern reputable jurisdictions”.The speech also outlined plans to propose “the creation of a standing Judicial Service Committee to advise the Governor on judicial appointments, terms and conditions of service and disciplinary matters as an informal alternative to a constitutional Judicial Service Commission”.Mr Justice Kawaley spoke recently of how the system of Assistant Justices will be used “to create a larger pool of Bermudian permanent judicial candidates”.Legislation was tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday to boost the number of Assistant Justices from two to five.Appleby partner John Riihiluoma and Conyers Dill and Pearman partner Narinder Hargun were appointed as Assistant Justices by Governor George Fergusson in July.They sit in civil and commercial cases from time to time.The Supreme Court Amendment Act, allowing three further Assistant Justices to be appointed, was tabled by Premier Paula Cox.According to the explanatory memorandum: “It will enable the judicial capacity of the Supreme Court to be increased on a flexible, as-needed basis while avoiding the expense of full time appointments.”