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Annual Review


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2 Court operations during 2006

Criminal jurisdiction


As at 31 December 2006:

  • 271,091 criminal matters commenced in the Local Court

  • 270,995 criminal matters were finalised, giving a clearance ratio of 99.96%

  • 20,236 defended trials were finalised by the Local Court

These figures are statewide for all Local Courts. In previous years figures have been estimated from 83% of cases on the GLC case management system, therefore no direct comparison can be made to figures reported in the 2005 annual review.

Court-by-Court statistics can be found in Appendix 3.



The criminal case workload of the Court continues to increase as the historical perspective set out above confirms. Against this background, the Local Court has been confronted with difficult resource and management issues. It is a credit to the dedication and commitment of the magistracy that the Court continues to lead the way in the delivery of justice within the criminal jurisdiction.

According to the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2007, which measures performance across the Commonwealth, the Local Court of New South Wales has again outperformed other states and territories. This is despite its increasingly heavy workload and the proportion of magisterial resources allocated to the Court being significantly less than the comparative allocation to other states and territories.

During the period in question, the Court continued to further involve itself in alternative approaches to the traditional dispensation of criminal cases. Part 3 of this Review deals in greater detail with the various diversionary programmes conducted within the Court. For cogent reasons, these programmes do not operate within the higher jurisdictions, however, it is important to note that the success of such initiatives depend on more intensive participation by the Court in overseeing both the direction and outcomes in the field of therapeutic jurisprudence. Taken into consideration with the commitment to meeting the Court’s Time Standards the success of the Court continues. It is, however, appropriate to add a necessary caution that if workloads continue to rise without an increase in resources the time will come when the qualitative outcome, in terms of maintaining a high professional standard, will conflict with demand for expedition.



Timeliness

  • The pending caseload reduced by 14.6% (reducing by 4,298 matters)

  • 95.09% of matters were completed within six months of commencement

  • 99.35% of matters were completed within 12 months of commencement

These figures are estimated from 83% of cases on the GLC case management system.

In accordance with published time standards, the Court aims to finalise 100% of summary criminal trials within 12 months of commencement.







Domestic and personal violence

The caseload of the Court in the area of domestic and personal violence remained constant in 2006.

Final domestic violence orders made by the Court increased by 3.3% from 16,339 in 2005 to 16874 in 2006. Final personal violence orders made by the Court decreased very slightly from 5664 in 2005 to 5631 in 2006.

The Local Court acknowledges the important work of, and the assistance the Court received in 2006 from:



  • The Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Programme that provides support and assistance for applicants in AVO proceedings. Designated rooms and other support services are provided at most Courts

  • Police Domestic Violence liaison officers, who provide assistance on list days

  • Community Justice Centres in providing personnel to facilitate mediation of complaints between private parties in personal violence order proceedings.



Calculation of % of final orders made excludes the number of applications variation/revocation for both personal and domestic violence.



Domestic Violence Intervention Court Model

During 2006, the Domestic Violence Intervention Court Model (DVICM) continued in two locations in New South Wales, Wagga Wagga Local Court and Campbelltown Local Court. The DVICM deals with criminal domestic violence matters and is an integrated criminal justice and community social/ welfare response to domestic violence. It relies on the inter-agency cooperation between the New South Wales Attorney General’s Department, New South Wales Police, Department of Corrective Services, Legal Aid and Department of Community Services.

DVICM aims to promote a productive and cooperative relationship between police and the Courts and bring about proactive responses from police, improved evidence collection, and better support for victims.

The DVICM focuses on increasing accountability for perpetrators of domestic violence whilst providing greater support and safety for victims from the time domestic violence is reported until finalisation of associated Court proceedings.

By agreement with Magistrates, the victim is only required to attend Court on the first mention. There are regular, although not specialist, police prosecutors at both locations. Police are being encouraged and supported to submit high quality briefs to the Court at the earliest stage possible, preferably on the first mention.

It is expected that the outcome of these two pilot Courts will be formally evaluated in 2007.

Preliminary indicators have been very positive.

Civil jurisdiction


In 2006, 140,914 civil actions were commenced in the Local Court with 151,211 finalised. This represents a slight decrease in fi lings from 2005. 116,201 of these actions were commenced in the Small Claims Division.

9,925 matters were finalised by Court hearings in the General and Small Claims Divisions. The majority of matters are finalised other than by hearing in Court (i.e. matters are settled or default judgement is entered).



The Court aims to finalise 100% of all civil proceedings within 12 months of commencement. As at 31 December 2006 the number of General Division matters disposed of within 12 months remained constant from 2005 at 89.29%. The number of Small Claims actions completed within 12 months increased to 97.01% from 95% in 2005.

Defects in the civil claims statistical database that have been identified in previous years continue to under report the caseload and finalisations of the Court.

The most significant feature of 2006 was the continued introduction of the Uniform Civil Procedure Act 2005. Civil matters in the Supreme Court, District Court and Local Court are now governed by the same Act and Rules, which benefits not only the Court, but also practitioners and litigants.

The Local Court has continued to offer hearings in all contested matters within a period of six months from the date of fi ling a Defence, with the vast majority of matters concluded within 12 months. The continued practice of witness statements to be served but not fi led, except by special order in longer cases, has contributed significantly to the efficient determination of matters. During 2006, very few matters were “not reached”.

Whilst there is great diversity in the cases that come before the Court, during 2006 a disproportionate amount of hearing time was spent hearing disputes between insurers over fair and reasonable costs of repairs to motor vehicles damaged in an accident.

Claims by insurance companies seeking to recover deposits forfeited by the default of purchasers, also take up a significant amount of the Court’s time.

The Court has observed a marked increase in the number of unrepresented litigants appearing before the Court. Where the legal issues are complicated, the presence of unrepresented litigants presents a significant challenge to the Court.


Children’s Court


The Senior Children’s Magistrate is His Honour Magistrate Scott Mitchell.

A significant development in the Children’s Court during 2006, one year on from its centenary (26 September 2005), has been the commencement of the Court’s operations at two new Courthouses.

In April 2006, the Children’s Court at Broadmeadow opened and on 6 November 2006, the Premier of New South Wales opened the new Children’s Court at Parramatta.

The new Children’s Court at Parramatta is now the headquarters of the Children’s Court of New South Wales and contains six Courtrooms and two mediation conference rooms. It also constitutes the fi rst phase of the new Parramatta Justice Precinct.

Consequent on these developments, the Court’s operations at Cobham and Bidura were reorganised. Cobham continues to deal with juvenile crime, but no longer deals with Care and Protection matters, whilst Bidura now deals with both juvenile Crime and Care matters, as the primary face of the Children’s Court in the eastern Sydney region. On 9 November 2006, the Children’s Court at St James and the Children’s Court at Lidcombe both closed. Consolidation of the Children’s Court in Parramatta has meant Family Court fi lings have ceased, due to the location of the Federal Magistrates Court in Parramatta.

Children’s Court Registries continued to operate at Bidura, Cobham, Campbelltown, Central Coast (Wyong and Woy Woy), Broadmeadow, Illawarra (Port Kembla and Nowra) in 2006 and at St James until November 2006, when the Court commenced its operations at Parramatta.

The policy of attaching all newly appointed Magistrates to the Children’s Court for a period of at least three months before being assigned to a country circuit continued during 2006. The purpose of this initiative is to ensure Magistrates have up to date expertise in dealing with children’s matters, enabling the Court to improve its service to the children and families in the parts of the State where specialist Children’s Magistrates do not ordinarily preside. Nevertheless, the Chief Magistrate continued the practice of authorising sittings of specialist Children’s Magistrates in country centres to hear and determine matters of particular complexity or otherwise where a need appeared.

The Children’s Court also maintained in 2006, its active role of advising Government on matters of law reform relating to children and young persons. The Senior Children’s Magistrate chaired, and several other Children’s Magistrates are members of, the Children’s Court Advisory Committee and the Children’s Court frequently consults with various government and nongovernment agencies concerning juvenile justice and the care and protection of children. A working party comprising representatives of the Children’s Court, the Attorney-General’s Department, the Legal Aid Commission and the Department of Community Services meets monthly.



Children’s Court Care jurisdiction

Pursuant to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, the Children’s Court has the responsibility of making orders for the emergency and/or the longer term removal of children from the care of their parents, orders for the allocation of parental responsibility to the Minister for Community Services and/or to other suitable carers and orders for supervision of placements and for contact. Where it appears appropriate, the Court may continue to monitor the progress of children in Care by requiring the Department of Community Services to provide updating reports regarding children the subject of Care Orders.

Standard Directions and Time Standards designed to facilitate preparation of Care cases for trial and eliminate unacceptable delay, continued to apply during 2006. The overwhelming bulk of Care applications were determined and finalised within six months of their commencement. In matters relating to Care and Protection, the Court continued to regard delay as contrary to the best interests of children and young persons.

In the 12 months to the 31 December 2006:



These figures are state-wide for all Local Courts. In previous years figures have been estimated from 83% of cases on the GLC case management system, therefore no direct comparison can be made to figures reported in the 2005 annual review. During 2006 a number of Care matters were transferred to Parramatta as a result of the closure of St James Children’s Court. These matters have been included for the purposes of recording matters commenced

The Children’s Registrars attached to the Court assist in the areas of case management and alternative dispute resolution. They conduct regular call overs of Care cases and preside over preliminary conferences pursuant to section 65 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 which are the Court’s chief ADR mechanism. Children’s Registrars are allocated to Courts across the State as required and make regular and frequent scheduled visits to major country centres.



Criminal jurisdiction

In the 12 months to the 31 December 2006:



  • 14,615 criminal matters commenced in the Children’s Court

  • 14,763 criminal matters were finalised, a clearance rate of 101.01%

  • 1,205 defended trials were finalised by the Court

These figures are state-wide for all Local Courts. In previous years figures have been estimated from 83% of cases on the GLC case management system, therefore no direct comparison can be made to figures reported in the 2005 annual review.

Timeliness

  • The pending caseload remained constant (at 26 matters, compared to 24 in 2005)

  • 91.77% of matters were completed within six months of commencement

  • 99.05% of matters were completed within 12 months of commencement

These figures are estimated from 83% of cases on the GLC case management system.

The diversion of offenders under the Young Offenders Act 1997 continued during 2006 to reduce the number of less serious matters coming before the Court.



Youth Drug and Alcohol Court

The Youth Drug and Alcohol Court aims to reduce re-offending by young people by helping them overcome their drug or alcohol problem. The programme operates by deferring sentencing of young offenders while he or she undertakes a rehabilitation plan. The young offender appears before a Magistrate every fortnight for review.

During 2006, the Youth Drug and Alcohol Court sat at Bidura, Cobham, Campbelltown and Parramatta. 86 young offenders were referred to the programme and 46 were accepted and commenced the programme. There were 19 graduates from the programme in 2006 and as at 31 December 2006, 29 young offenders were continuing to participate in the programme

Children’s Court Clinic

The Children’s Court Clinic continued during 2006 to provide independent clinical assessments of children and young persons and their families. An assessment order is made when the Court requires specialist information from a clinician to assist it in the determination of Care cases. Specialist psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians and other practitioners are attached to the Clinic to deal with and report on issues such as parenting capacity, bonding and attachment or a child’s need for contact in the event that out-of-home Care Orders are to be made. Following assessment, the Clinic provides written reports to the Court and clinicians make themselves available for examination before the Court. In November 2006, the Clinic relocated from its former premises at Hospital Road, Sydney to the new Children’s Court building at Parramatta.


Coroner’s Court


The State Coroner of New South Wales is His Honour Magistrate John Birley Abernethy, the Senior Deputy State Coroner is Her Honour Magistrate Jacqueline Mary Milledge and the Deputy State Coroners are His Honour Magistrate Dragan Carl Milovanovich, and Her Honour Magistrate Dorelle Pinch.

Deaths in custody and deaths during or as a result of a police operation

Section 13A of the Coroners Act 1980 stipulates that if a person dies during the course of a police operation or whilst in custody, that death can only be reported to the State Coroner or Deputy State Coroner and an inquest must be conducted into the circumstances of the death. A summary of all Section 13A deaths is provided to the Attorney General for each twelve-month period.

During 2006, 30 deaths were reported pursuant to the requirement of Section 13A, 3 of the deceased were Aboriginal. This compares to 2005, where 26 such deaths were reported, 4 of which were Aboriginal.

Whilst the overall figure reported has increased, this should not be regarded as an “upward trend”, as the number of deaths reported pursuant to section 13A since 1997 have decreased significantly. The reason for the overall increase in 2006 is currently being examined.



Children in care or disability deaths

Under section 13AB of the Coroners Act 1980 it is mandatory to report to the State Coroner or Deputy State Coroner the following deaths:



  • deaths of children in care;

  • deaths of children who have been at risk of harm in the past three years;

  • deaths of siblings of children who have been at risk of harm in the past three years;

  • deaths of children whose deaths are, or may be, due to abuse, neglect or occurring in suspicious circumstances;

  • deaths of persons living in or temporarily absent from residential care provided by a service provider and authorised or funded under the Disability Services Act 1993 or a residential care centre for handicapped persons; and

  • deaths of persons who are in a target group within the meaning of the Disability Services Act 1993 and receive from a service provider, assistance to enable independent living in the community.

In 2006, 210 such deaths were reported to the State Coroner. Whilst the section requires mandatory reporting, there is no mandatory requirement to conduct an inquest. Should an inquest be necessary, however, only the State Coroner or Deputy State Coroner may conduct it.

Completion of cases

The State Coroner has a statutory obligation to ensure all deaths, fi res and explosions are properly investigated. The primary investigative agency for the Coroner is the New South Wales Police. Other organisations including WorkCover, the New South Wales Mines Investigation Unit, the Office of Transport Safety Investigation and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) support coronial investigations with the provision of their own expert briefs of evidence.

Many matters are complex and require lengthy investigations. The Coroner relies on the expertise of other agencies and is dependant on these other agencies completing their investigations in a reasonable time frame. In particular, a factor impacting on the timely disposition of cases, particularly at Glebe, has been delay by the Department of Forensic Medicine (DOFM) to finalise post mortem reports.

The end of 2005 saw a steady decrease in delays in the provision of these reports, due to a full complement of forensic pathologists located at the DOFM. In early 2006 this improvement in service delivery continued, however, due to a critical shortage of forensic pathologists at the Westmead mortuary, the DOFM at Glebe assisted by taking over 500 matters to perform post mortem examinations.

This impacted on the ability of pathologists at Glebe to deliver timely reports following post mortems, with consequential impact on the timeliness in completion of coronial work.

* The term “inquest dispensed with” does not adequately explain the work of the Coroner in considering whether or not to dispense with the holding of an inquest. In each and every case, the decision to dispense with the holding of an inquest involves a reading and assessment of a sometimes lengthy and complex brief of evidence. Much of the Coroner’s time is spent in requisitioning and reviewing material for cases, which ultimately do not proceed to inquest, as well as those that do.



Fires

Generally, fi res account for less than 10% of matters reported to a Coroner and much less result in an inquiry. The past few summers have seen a number of bush fi res reported to the State Coroner. These fi res primarily result in destruction of vegetation and wildlife, however, some property damage is occasioned and some also result in the loss of human life.

In 2006, 679 bushfires were reported to the State Coroner through the Deputy State Coroner Westmead. A special police task force was established to account for and investigate these fires. Operation “Tronto 4” is a continuation of the work undertaken by the previous “Tronto” police investigators.

Industrial jurisdiction


The Chief Industrial Magistrate is His Honour Magistrate Gregory James Tulk Hart.

Case Load

In 2006 the total number of cases fi led in the Industrial Court decreased marginally from 1301 to 1201. These figures do not, however, include Industrial matters heard in Newcastle. 2006 Saw a reduction in the number of civil claims lodged from 584 (in 2005) to 437.

Other trends included:


  • Prosecutions fi led by the Office of Industrial Relations (OIR) increased to 318 in 2006 (from 246 in 2005);

  • Lodgements by the Workcover Authority of New South Wales appeared to plateau during 2006. In 2005 there was a significant decrease in lodgements from 689 (in 2004) down to 471. There were 437 lodgements in 2006.

Legislative Change

The 2006 calendar year saw a significant change in the Federal industrial law with the Commonwealth Work Choices legislation being gazetted to come into law on 27th March 2006. In September 2006 the High Court of Australia by a 5:2 majority upheld the constitutional validity of the legislation. The legislation overrides State industrial law in circumstances where the relevant employer is a constitutional corporation namely, a trading, financial or foreign corporation.

It is too early to assess how this fundamental change in industrial law will impact upon the work of the Chief Industrial Magistrate’s Court. The 2007 calendar year is likely to be an interesting time of change in the Court as the impact of such far-reaching legislation takes effect.

Licensing Court


The Chairperson of the Licensing Court of New South Wales is His Honour Magistrate David Bruce Armati. Magistrates appointed to the Licensing Court during 2006 were Her Honour Magistrate Daphne Anne Kok, His Honour Magistrate Peter Frederick Ashton and Mr Denis Arthur Collins (until retirement on 31 March 2006).

In 2006 the workload of the Licensing Court remained constant from 2005, whilst the Court was reduced to three Licensing Magistrates.



* Unlike in prior years, the number of applications reported this year includes 5,114 Board related matters (which often accompany Court matters) as well as Court matters to more appropriately reflect the work load of the Magistrates.

When there is no objection lodged to an application, one of the Licensing Magistrates or the Principal Registrar is able to deal with the matter in chambers. In 2006, 8,907 such applications were dealt with in chambers, of which, 6,979 were dealt with by the Principal Registrar.

Liquor Administration Board

The members of the Liquor Administration Board (LAB) are the Licensing Magistrates. The LAB is responsible for approving gaming machines and determining various applications in relation to poker machines, determining social impact assessments of liquor and gaming applications and carrying out community development and support expenditure assessment matters.

Statistics and details on these LAB duties are set out in the LAB’s Annual Report along with an overview of the Policy Determinations that were issued in 2006.

Noise Complaints

Liquor Administration Board Members preside over conferences to hear complaints about noise and other nuisance that may arise from licensed premises. These informal hearings are designed to deal with disturbances caused to communities in the neighbourhood of licensed premises. During 2006, 71 such conferences were held over 48 sitting days.


Mental health


Magistrates conduct mental health inquiries in accordance with the Mental Health Act 1990 to review the need for continued detention of any person who has been involuntarily admitted to a hospital for psychiatric treatment. In 2006, Magistrates attended at 43 different hospitals throughout the State in order to conduct these inquiries.

In 2006 there were 12,323 mental health inquiries conducted by Magistrates.*



* The figures included this year are provided by the Mental Health Review Tribunal, based on Hospitals’ completion of form 19B in compliance with the Mental Health Act 1990. This is due to a concern that figures in previous years underreported the number of inquiries conducted by Magistrates. In previous years figures have been provided by the Mental Health Advocacy Service, therefore, the figures included above are not directly comparable to previous years.


Mining jurisdiction


The Chief Mining Warden is His Honour Magistrate John Anthony Bailey.

Although this jurisdiction does not experience the volume of other jurisdictions, the nature of the disputes and the unlimited monetary jurisdiction of the Court means that very few contested matters can be finalised in less than two hearing days. Some matters occupy the Court’s time for up to two or more weeks.

Once again this year, the majority of disputes arose in the Lightning Ridge mineral claims district. This was notwithstanding the decrease in the number of mineral claims issued in that district, compared to 2005.

During 2006 there was an increase of almost 100% in the number of matters fi led in the Court, compared to 2005. This steep increase has not only arrested the gradual decline in numbers over the past years, but has placed the numbers in the region they were some 5 years ago.

Disposal rates during 2006 were:


  • 67% of the matters were disposed of within 3 weeks;

  • 75% within 6 weeks;

  • 78% within 12 weeks; and

  • 89% within 6 months

The operations of the Warden’s Courts were not affected by any amendments to the relevant Acts which govern the Court’s jurisdiction during 2006.

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