Page 3526 - Week 11 - Thursday, 24 September 2015
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Mr Insull was released pursuant to a grant of conditional bail in circumstances where a precondition of that grant had not been satisfied. Mr Insull’s release was the result of a number of departures from the usual administrative processes, a misunderstanding as to the order made and incorrect assumptions about whether the magistrate’s order had immediate effect.
The recommendations made by the review are targeted at strengthening the administrative processes for bail hearings in the ACT and ensuring people fully understand their roles and responsibilities within that process. The review also highlights the need for a review, an update of written policies, procedures and training manuals for the main administrative officers involved in a bail process to ensure officers fully understand all custody arrangements under the Corrections Management Act 2007 and the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005.
The government agrees with all of the recommendations in this report. The ACT Magistrates Court has a work plan in place to implement the recommendations from the review. Work has already commenced on updating relevant policies, procedures and training manuals. It is expected that the implementation will be completed by December 2015.
ACT Corrective Services are already undertaking work to more broadly update their policies and procedures. The recommendations from the review and resultant changes to the court policies, procedures and training documents will be considered as part of that work.
Finally, the review also highlights the value of the new integrated case management system to be implemented in our law courts and tribunals. The ICMS will provide an electronic bench sheet and electronic bail order template which will help ensure magistrates’ orders are clearly recorded.
I commend the review to the Assembly.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Justice, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Transport Reform), by leave: Firstly as the Minister for Justice, including ACT Corrective Services, I support the Corrective Services-related recommendations of the review. I reassure the community that the ACT government is fully committed to addressing domestic and family violence and that this incident was completely unacceptable to me and to the government.
I note the review found that the defendant at the centre of this matter did not escape custody, rather that there were departures from the usual administrative process and a misunderstanding as to the order made by the court, and this resulted in Mr Insull being released without the precondition being met. A response across the various functions of the Justice and Community Safety Directorate is necessary, and the review of findings and recommendations support that.
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