Magistrate hire plan ‘terrible’

SENIOR legal officials considered hiring temporary magistrates to help ease the backlog of court cases plaguing Victoria’s justice system.

But the proposed contract arrangement was dropped after concerns were raised by prominent legal figures.

It can be revealed the idea to appoint magistrates on short-term contracts was floated with lawyers in the weeks before a job ad appeared online in August.

The Department of Justice subsequently advertised for magistrates on a three-year contract, but later said the ad was published in error.

A senior court source said the idea appeared to be a deliberate attempt to avoid ongoing appointment costs.

“It completely overlooks the separation of powers and judicial independence,” they said. “It was a terrible idea as it offends very basic principles.

“There are then two classes of magistrates, the permanents and the temporaries. The temporary magistrates are then subject to making politically correct decisions or risk being booted.”

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Michael O’Brien said the plan would have destroyed judicial independence and further undermined public confidence in the courts.

University of South Australia law expert Joe McIntyre said the use of part-time judges was not a preferred model.

“Such appointments effectively hang the sword of Damocles over the temporary judge’s head – keep the government happy if you want to have your job renewed,” he said.

Figures released by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria on Friday showed its pending caseload fell to 111,740 as at April 30, from a peak of 145,512 in December 2020. In the County Court, about 1400 trials are waiting to be heard.

A state government spokeswoman denied there was ever a plan to appoint temporary magistrates.