Canberra judges have 'no time' for civil cases in 2015

The ACT Supreme Court will continue to focus its efforts next year on controlling delays in criminal cases, which have long frustrated victims, lawyers, and defendants alike.

Successful efforts have recently been made to cut through outstanding cases, including the ongoing series of so-called mini-blitzes, or pilot central criminal listings.

Last week, in an attempt to keep the court lists under control, Canberra's judges were told they must prioritise criminal and Court of Appeal matters during 2015.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell told lawyers that will mean judges have little time to hear civil cases at all next year.

That has prompted concern in the legal fraternity, including the ACT Bar Association and ACT Law Society, who worry civil lists will blow out and litigants will be significantly disadvantaged.

Both have used the Chief Justice's concerning prediction to further pressure the ACT government and Attorney-General Simon Corbell for a fifth judge.

Mediation sessions between plaintiffs and respondents in civil cases will continue throughout the year, and Master David Mossop will continue spending the majority of his time on litigation matters.

But lawyers were told that Master Mossop will not be able to shoulder the extra burden.

Bar Association president Greg Stretton, SC, said the approach was likely to cause a backlog of civil cases.

"It's not just a matter of there won't be judges available in 2015, while that's occurring there's going to be a build-up of all the cases that are listed in the meantime," he said.

Mr Stretton called on Mr Corbell to commit more resources to ensure the court's focus on one problem, the criminal backlog, does not cause another, in the form of a civil backlog.

"It's about time the Attorney-General stopped messing with injured peoples' lives, because that's what he's doing."

"You don't have to be very smart to work out that what we've been saying now for two years, that we need a fifth judge in this territory, is correct."

But Mr Corbell said permanent changes to Supreme Court resourcing were not warranted.

“The workload of the Supreme Court is not excessive in comparison to other jurisdictions," he said.

"When the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services data is viewed in terms of the number of cases lodged per judicial officer, the number is lower in the ACT than in a majority of other jurisdictions’ superior courts."

He said short-term assistance had been provided through $225,000 for four acting judges in this year's budget.

“In the longer term, I have undertaken to work with the Chief Justice to develop a detailed model for assessing resourcing needs of the court," he said.

Law Society president Martin Hockridge also voiced his concern that civil cases could suffer due to the prioritisation of criminal matters.

"The potential's there of course," he said.

"You would prefer to have the resources to ensure the civil caseload is moving through as well."

Mr Hockridge said a fifth full-time judge, which the society has long called for, would help address such pressures.

"Hopefully that would alleviate these sorts of problems," he said.