Hansard debates

  Ms  TIERNEY  (Western  Victoria)  --  I  rise  to  speak on the Court Services
Victoria Bill  2013, and  from the  outset  I  would  like to  restate that  the
opposition will not be opposing this bill.
Currently the administration of the  courts  is  managed  by  a  unit within the
Department of Justice.

This bill establishes Court Services Victoria, which will be known as  CSV.  CSV
will be an independent statutory body to provide the administrative services and
facilities needed by Victorian  courts. The governing  body  will be the  Courts
Council, comprised of the heads  of  each  jurisdiction and chaired by the Chief
Justice of  the  Supreme Court. The  chief  executive officer of  Court Services
Victoria will be  responsible  for its day-to-day  operations and staffing.  The
allocation of budgets to each  court  will continue to be determined through the
usual budgetary process and to be accountable  to Parliament. Each court will be
provided  with  administrative staff and  facilities  in  accordance  with  that
court's  budget. Court Services Victoria and the Courts Council will be directly
accountable to the Parliament  to   ensure   public   accountability  for public
resources.

While this  bill  allows  the heads of each judiciary to contribute to decisions
regarding where funds are needed  on an administrative level, it does not change
the  limited budget  allocations  that  are  causing  a  number of  problems  in
Victoria's criminal  justice  system, nor  does  it improve the  resources being
provided to the courts;  it merely  allows the  courts to  determine the ways in
which  they will use their  limited funds for administration. Further, there are
far greater concerns for the court system beyond the way in which administrative
resources are  being  allocated,  one  of those being the higher rates of police
arrests and charges that have led  to  excessive  court  lists, delays in having
matters heard and significant overcrowding in police cells,  which has been well
reported in the media.

While this bill  attempts  to improve  the  independence of the  judiciary,  the
government  has  actively  removed   judicial  discretion  by  imposing  further
mandatory sentencing  --  another  factor contributing to the overcrowded prison
system. The prison system is  using an exorbitant amount of public funds, and as
Victorian prisons continue to operate far beyond their capacity the question has
to be asked: will this government continue its simplistic  approach to crime and
the court system by expanding prisons and allocating more public funds to them?
There are issues in respect of the cuts to funding that we have seen at Victoria
Legal  Aid  which  have also put significant strain on the  courts,  leading  to
unacceptable  delays in having  matters listed before the  courts. We have  also
seen a similar rise in  accused persons representing themselves.  This has major
implications where  the accused do not have knowledge of criminal procedures, of
the  rules of evidence or of the relevant information that should be  put before
the court.

This  compromises   the  outcomes  they   may  otherwise  receive  if  they  are
represented. Compare this to the resources  available to police  prosecutors and
the  Office of Public  Prosecutions (OPP). The subsequent  delays also mean that
accused persons  with  no representation  take  up a significant  amount  of the
court's  time,  as  judges are often required to question the witnesses and  the
accused  to  try  to   extract   relevant  information,  and  often  prejudicial
information  is  inadvertently provided in  the  process. The  slow  progress of
matters  involving self-represented  parties financially burdens  the court  and
associated  personnel,  including judges,  bench  clerks, OPP  staff, witnesses,
jurors, police  et cetera,  and causes  a backlog  of other matters that are not
being heard.

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In conclusion, this is an independent body that allows the judiciary to allocate
resources where they are most appropriately required, and it is supported by the
Labor  opposition.  However,  the  bill  does  not  improve  the  administrative
resources afforded to the judiciary, nor does the bill address those issues with
the  court  system that should be a  priority  of  this  government.  Issues  of
unacceptable delays, legal aid cuts and overcrowding in police cells and prisons
are impacting on  the  operation of courts, public funds and matters of justice.
It is these  issues, more than the allocation of administrative  resources, that
should have the attention of government. It  is  these  issues  that  the  Labor
opposition and the people of Victoria want this government to resolve.