The ACT government should have more power to handle complaints about rude or slow magistrates and judges without resorting to a judicial commission, the territory's peak lawyers' group says.
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And the ACT Law Society has also called for an independent review of the way Canberra's courts are funded, possibly spearheaded by a retired interstate judge.
The proposals are part of the society's April submission to the ongoing review of the territory's Self-Government Act.
The group raised concerns that the current method for disciplining misbehaving judicial officers denied the executive the chance to use discretion.
Under the act the Attorney-General of the day can only deal with a complaint by dismissing the concerns or convening a judicial commission to investigate the officer.
''In other words, there is no middle ground available to the Attorney-General to deal with a complaint other than by its dismissal or the establishment of a judicial commission,'' the society wrote.
''This situation is not desirable as there may be a complaint that warrants the intervention of the Attorney-General without an inquiry by the judicial commission.''
''For example, if a judicial officer is continually arriving late to court or taking an excessive time to deliver judgments, intervention may be required without the need for a judicial commission to be established.''
Executive director Larry King last week told The Canberra Times the group did not advocate giving the government the power to sack a judge or magistrate without convening a judicial commission.
A member of the judiciary can only be removed from office if a commission made up of three judges says the circumstances warrant dismissal and the Assembly agrees.
And Mr King stressed the proposal was not targeted at any serving judicial officers.
''[A judicial commission] is a sledgehammer to crack a walnut if all we're complaining about is courtesy from the bench or a lack of efficiency,'' he said.
''These are not hanging offences.''
The last time a commission was ordered in Canberra was before the resignation of former chief magistrate Ron Cahill in 2009.
Attorney-General Simon Corbell ordered the review over allegations Mr Cahill gave a background briefing to a visiting magistrate hearing an ACT case.
But the veteran magistrate's resignation for health reasons scuttled the commission, which can only investigate serving judicial officers.
The case was investigated by police but prosecutors found no grounds to pursue the matter.
The society's submission also calls for more support for the judiciary.
They want an independent review of funding and resources allocated to the territory's courts, carried out by an ''eminent person or retired judge''. Mr King said any former judge appointed to lead such a review would likely have to come from interstate.
The society has also pushed for more ministers to be appointed in the Assembly, an end to the Governor-General's power to dissolve the territory's Parliament and greater legislative independence for ACT lawmakers.
