The second ''blitz'' on the backlog of criminal cases in the Supreme Court is set to start on Monday morning. It is hoped the initiative will significantly cut the number of outstanding cases that have clogged up the court and contributed to its lengthy delays.
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The ''Pilot Central Criminal Listing'', known as the blitz, was announced by new Supreme Court Chief Justice Helen Murrell in November.
It involves a large number of trials, intensively listed before the ACT's Supreme Court judges over seven weeks, from late February to April.
There is expected to be a whopping 67 trials during that period.
The dates for most of the trials were fixed at a large call-over list held in November last year. Since that time, 10 defendants have changed their pleas.
An extra judge has been brought in to help in one of the seven allocated weeks, and the extra demand will place some strain on existing support services.
The 2012 initiative cost $1.2 million.
