Courts reach tipping point Extra judges needed ’immediately’
QUEENSLAND courts are slogging through the highest number of criminal cases in the country – with the least judges in some jurisdictions.
According to the latest Productivity Commission report on government services, there were 225,150 criminal lodgements in Queensland in 2016-17 – the highest of any state by about 15,000 and a 13 per cent jump in seven years.
The Supreme Court is closest to breaking point, with a 44 per cent increase in criminal cases since 2010-11 at 2740 and no extra judges appointed in that time.
The report reveals Queensland has the equal lowest number of Supreme Court judges and the least District Court judges dealing with criminal cases per 100,000 people at 0.2 and 0.5 respectively.
The Magistrates Court has 1.5 judicial officers per 100,000 people – the third highest in the country – but is dealing with 215,000 criminal cases.
Veteran criminal lawyer Bill Potts said while Queensland’s courts were still running efficiently, they were facing a “significant crisis”.
“We have had an underinvestment in justice in recent years,” he said. “We need, in my view, three Supreme Court judges and five District Court judges to be immediately appointed.”
Chief Justice Catherine Holmes warned in 2016 that the backlog could explode.
“The pattern for criminal filings is on a seemingly inextricable trajectory upwards,” she said. “It has doubled over the last three financial years and there is no reason at all to suppose the rate of acceleration would slow.”
NSW had 210,298 criminal lodgements, with 0.2 Supreme Court judges per 100,000 people, 0.6 District Court judges and 1.1 magistrates. Victoria had less than 200,000 lodgements with 0.2 Supreme Court judges, 0.7 District Court judges and 1.2 magistrates per 100,000 people.
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said the Government was committed to ensuring the court system had the resources it needed and had added $20 million in funding this financial year.