The decision that the bill proposes to have made by the commissioner or the registrar and that I have suggested should be made by the chief justice of the court concerned is the decision as to whether the contemplation and publication of a given judicial expense could undermine judicial independence or not. That is the decision that currently the bill would place under the responsibility of the registrar or the commissioner for federal judicial affairs.
We say that from a constitutional point of view, it is unacceptable to place the decision of whether a fundamental constitutional principle—such as judicial independence—is undermined or not with a member of the executive to make a final determination of that question. Under our form of government, that kind of decision rests with the judiciary. Under the bill before you, proposed sections 90.22 and 90.42—I mentioned the two in my opening remarks—would place that decision with the registrar and the commissioner. We say that in the first instance, the decision should be with the chief justice of the court concerned.