Ice puts heat on courts

ICE is being blamed for a surge in Supreme Court drugs cases which has seen the court in Townsville struggling to keep up.

In the Supreme Court’s 2016- 2017 annual report, Chief Justice Catherine Holmes pointed out that there was a 55.6 per cent increase in crimi- nal lodgements in Townsville in the last financial year.

“This is without precedent in recent years,” she wrote.

“With the co- operation of the profession, there was an 11.5 per cent increase in criminal finalisations but notwithstanding the clearance rate was only 82.9 per cent.

“The increase in lodgements in the criminal jurisdiction in Townsville is consistent with a statewide trend consequent upon the increase in the number of indictments presented to the court alleging trafficking in methylamphetamine ( ice).”

Figures showed there were 140 criminal lodgements in the Supreme Court for Townsville, compared to 116 finalisations, with a 10.9 per cent rate of defendants with proceedings older than 12 months.

Attorney- General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath said the Government was committed to ensuring the court system had the resources it needed to deliver justice effectively.

“This is why we’ve invested an extra $ 20 million in the 2016- 17 State Budget – the biggest funding increase to court services in more than a decade,” she said.

“Clearance rates can depend on a number of factors outside a court’s control, including availability of witnesses and the readiness of parties to proceed.

“The Attorney- General will continue to work with the chief justice and chief judge to discuss any issues that impact on the delivery of justice.

“There is no doubt that ice is putting pressure on not just our justice system as a whole but on the community and that is why in February we announced a $ 105 million wholeof- government plan to address the impact of ice.”

Meanwhile, District Court criminal lodgements in Townsville declined by 16.1 per cent from 492 to 413.

But despite 434 finalisations and a 105 per cent clearance rate, the backlog of proceedings more than 12 months old was 17.6 per cent.

It comes after Judge Grego- ry Lynham spoke in Townsville District Court about his frustration at trials not proceeding during the last few sittings.

Judge Lynham made the comments while reviewing upcoming trials due to take place before himself and Judge William Everson, saying trials being listed and then not proceeding was “a matter of embarrassment for the profession”.

“My expectation is if a matter is listed for trial, it will proceed as a trial,” he said.