SUPREME AMBITION
SOME of the city’s top legal eagles are calling for a branch of the Supreme Court to be located on the Gold Coast.
Lawyers say a Southport Supreme Court would speed up justice, reduce costs and make cases more open and transparent.
“We are in desperate need of a permanent Supreme Court in Southport,” Gatenby Criminal Lawyers director Michael Gatenby said.
SOME of Queensland’s most horrific murders and biggest drug busts happen on the Gold Coast but are not going to trial on the Glitter Strip.
Instead, the cases are shuffled to Brisbane because the Southport Court precinct does not have a Supreme Court.
The city’s legal eagles want that to change, calling for a branch of the court to be located in Southport or, at the least, more regular court circuit visits from the Supreme Court.
Lawyers say a Southport Supreme Court would speed up justice, reduce costs and make cases more open and transparent.
Howden Saggers Lawyers partner Dave Garratt said: “It might be beneficial for justice to have matters moving a bit quicker and driving the expense to the justice department down.
“With the population growing on the Gold Coast, it would be very beneficial to have matters progressed through Southport.”
Cases required to be handed up to the criminal court include murders, attempted murders and drug matters where a large volume has been produced or trafficked.
Recent high profile Gold Coast cases heard in Brisbane include the murder of Tara Brown by Lionel Patea, the murder of Greg Dufty by Patea and four other men who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, the
acquittal of Gable Tostee over the death of Warriena Wright, and the acquittal of former soldier Chris Carter over the deaths of his former partner and her boyfriend.
In the 2016-2017 financial year, 194 cases were committed to the Supreme Court from Southport, all to be heard in Brisbane. It is a big jump from 2008-2009 when 114 cases were passed up.
The court also deals with bail applications for people refused bail in the magistrates courts and civil matters.
Figures on how many of these originated in Southport are not kept.
The last time the Supreme Court sat on the Coast was more than 10 years ago in 2007 for a two-week circuit sitting.
The court has not returned but a trial of a circuit sitting, presided over by Justice David Boddice, is scheduled for next month due to the increasing workload coming from Southport.
A decision about the future of circuit sittings will be made after the August hearings.
During those two weeks the court is expected to hear an attempted murder trial, a number of civil cases and complete a number of sentences.
Gatenby Criminal Lawyers director Michael Gatenby will be representing Anthony Soong who will face an attempted murder charge, accused of shooting former Big Brother star Sam Wallace in December 2015.
“We are in desperate need of a permanent Supreme Court in Southport,” he said.
Mr Gatenby said it was “frustrating” as a Southport lawyer to have to make the trip to Brisbane often for a two- or three-minute mention of a matter in the lead-up to a trial or sentence.
McMillan Criminal Law partner Michael McMillan said it made sense for the Supreme Court to be permanently on the Gold Coast.
“Most of the drug matters that seem to be dealt with in Brisbane come from here. Why not have it here?” he said.
When a matter is heard at the Supreme Court in Brisbane, it is not just the defendant who needs to head up the M1 but also witnesses, legal teams, the victim and family of the victim, and any people who might want to watch the case.
The State Government has to foot the bill for witnesses’ travel. Lawyers employed by Legal Aid also claim for an hour’s travel each way.
The call for a Supreme Court is not just coming from the city’s legal fraternity.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said it “made sense” to have a higher court here.
“Statistics show that a significant amount of Supreme Court matters for the state, emanate from the southeast Queensland corner. This is not just about our city, it is about bordering councils including Logan and the Scenic Rim,” he said
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said: “The Chief Justice of Queensland manages the workloads and determines the allocation of judicial resources within the Supreme Court of Queensland. The AttorneyGeneral is comfortable with the Chief Justice’s allocation of resources.”
It is up to the state to provide funding to the courts, including a permanent Supreme Court on the Coast.