Page 4381 - Week 14 - Thursday, 28 November 2013
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Title read by Clerk.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (10.35): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Today I am pleased to present the Courts Legislation Amendment Bill 2013. The bill makes minor technical and also more substantive amendments to several pieces of legislation to address a number of criminal and civil law issues. It also makes key improvements to the coronial, civil and criminal justice systems in the ACT. The legislation will implement measures designed to improve the efficiency of the Magistrates Court and the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal. It will also improve ACT coronial and post-mortem processes and practices.
Following representations from the Director of Public Prosecutions, I am proposing some amendments in this bill to the Magistrates Court Act 1930 and the Supreme Court Act 1933.
The first amendment introduces a new mechanism for summary criminal matters related to serious indictable matters to be referred to the Supreme Court. Often an accused person charged with an indictable offence is also charged with related summary offences, or simple backup charges arising from the same facts. When this happens the backup or related charges remain in the Magistrates Court pending resolution of the indictable matters in the Supreme Court. There is provision now in the Supreme Court Act to allow the court to deal with a related summary offence, but it does so only after the trial of the indictable matter, not at the same time, and with the consent of the accused. This means that defendants who plead guilty, thereby averting the need for a trial, are unable to take advantage of the current provision because there has been no trial.
This amendment will mean that related summary offences will travel with the indictable matters to the Supreme Court. There, they can be dealt with on the basis of the evidence presented in the Supreme Court in relation to the indictable offence and any additional evidence given with the leave of the court. It will of course be open to the court to dismiss the charges or, if necessary, remit the matter to the Magistrates Court, if it is in the interests of justice to do so. In considering the interests of justice, the Supreme Court would take into account any adverse impact on the defendant. Backup or related offences in the Children’s Court would also travel with any indictable matters to the Supreme Court.
In dealing with the related summary matters after the offences for which the accused was committed have been dealt with, the Supreme Court will have the functions and procedures of the Magistrates Court. Simple transfer of these matters is a sensible approach to reduce inefficient double handling of matters, free up Magistrates Court registry time and resources, support the interests of accused people by improving wait times and bring the territory into line with its closest neighbour, New South Wales, as well as other jurisdictions.
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