Page 2328 - Week 06 - Thursday, 10 May 2012
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Title read by Clerk.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (11.16): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Today I present the Courts Legislation Amendment Bill 2012. This bill’s purpose is to make amendments to assist the Supreme Court to implement a new docket case management system. On 16 December last year the Supreme Court announced that it will change aspects of its case management and listing practices, with a view to reducing the time taken to finalise matters lodged in or committed to the court. The Supreme Court’s decision to adopt a new approach to case management arose from the review of case management and listing procedures conducted by Her Honour Justice Hilary Penfold of the Supreme Court and the Director-General of the Justice and Community Safety Directorate, Ms Kathy Leigh.
The purpose of the review was to identify case management practices that could be used to reduce delays in the Supreme Court. The review was informed by a reference group which included the Director of Public Prosecutions, the chief executive officer of Legal Aid ACT, the president of the Bar Association and the president of the Law Society. Justice Penfold and the director-general also consulted current and retired judges from other jurisdictions, including experts who had undertaken reviews of case management elsewhere in Australia.
The consultation with other jurisdictions and discussions by the reference group identified areas for improvement in criminal and civil case management in the ACT Supreme Court. The review identified a number of measures to improve efficiency into the long term and to address the current backlog. A discussion paper was prepared to elicit information from all interested stakeholders. Following the release of the paper in August last year, Justice Penfold and the director-general met regularly with Legal Aid ACT, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Bar Association, the Law Society and individual legal practitioners to further discuss the issues raised and to achieve consensus on how to improve case management and listing procedures in the Supreme Court.
The main change announced by the court was the adoption of a docket case management system covering both civil and criminal matters. Under a docket system, matters in categories requiring listing for trial and certain other matters would be assigned to a docket judge shortly after being lodged. These matters would then be managed by the judge until finalisation. Under the docket system, each judicial officer will manage their docket, with a view to encouraging early and efficient resolution of matters.
The move to a docket system is being facilitated by the so-called blitz by the Supreme Court of existing criminal and civil cases. The government is supporting this blitz with short-term additional funding of $671,530, consisting of the appointment of two
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