John David Phillips
Phillips' retirement speech generated debate in Victoria on judicial independence. In the Australian experience, government is separated into three branches, the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Each branch is independent of the others, and is recognised in the Australian Constitution at the federal level. Phillips on his retirement was critical of the intrusion of the executive into the work of the courts, being the judicial branch. For example, the Supreme Court was referred to as "Business Unit 19" by the Victorian Government. Phillips did not suggest that the Victorian Government would attempt to influence directly a decision of the court. However, there appeared to be "What is evolving ...a perception of the court as some sort of unit of functionary within the Department of Justice”.
Technology and Construction Court
The Technology and Construction Court (commonly abbreviated in practice to the TCC) is a sub-division of the Queen's Bench Division, part of the High Court of Justice, which together with the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, is one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. The Civil Procedure Rules, which regulate procedure civil procedure in the High Court, allocate non-exhaustive categories of work to the court, principally, as the name suggests, disputes in the areas of construction and technology.