Legal Aid has asked for extra funding to support it through the Supreme Court blitz, while prosecutors warn the extra workload poses ‘‘a considerable challenge’’ without additional resources.
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Lawyers were told this week to prepare for a move, similar to last year’s blitz, designed to cut through case backlogs.
It will involve the intense over-listing of almost 70 criminal cases, with the intention of holding a large number of trials over five weeks in February and March.
The latest blitz is driven by Chief Justice Helen Murrell after last year’s effort cut through a fifth of the outstanding criminal cases.
The government provided a significant level of extra funding to support the blitz last year, with two extra judges and additional prosecutors, Legal Aid representatives and court staff.
But a spokeswoman for Attorney-General Simon Corbell said next year’s blitz would not attract extra resources.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Jon White, said the move, while having his support as an effective way to address delays, might pose some difficulty for prosecutors.
‘‘Meeting the initiative from current resources will be a considerable challenge for my office, particularly as we will still have to cover our existing responsibilities. ‘‘This, of course, includes matters in the Magistrates Court,’’ Mr White said.
‘‘I am in frequent contact with the [Justice and Community Safety] Directorate on the issue of resources and will be monitoring the situation closely.’’
He told an Assembly estimates committee earlier this year that prosecutors were struggling to meet their normal workload.
The ACT Legal Aid Commission had also asked the government for more resources for the blitz, seeking funds to cover its internal activities and payments to private practitioners.
‘‘I think it’s very important that we are well prepared for the blitz, and that representation both from internal commission lawyers and the private practitioners who undertake legal aid is in place,’’ he said.
John Boersig, soon to be the commission’s chief executive officer, said the move had his full support.
The ACT Bar Association and the Law Society of the ACT also welcomed news of the blitz, but both raised concerns of potential logistical problems.
Association president Greg Stretton, SC, called for the funding of extra judicial officers to help deal with the extra workload.
‘‘The main problem is that four judges, and we have four resident judges, are going to be tied up for a number of weeks doing this blitz,’’ Mr Stretton said. ‘‘Therefore, the question arises about other cases during that period.
‘‘What is needed is the resource of another one or two judges during that period, to cope with the other cases.’’
Law Society president Martin Hockridge echoed concerns about the logistical problems, and said he supported extra funding to help with the blitz.
‘‘I understand the government’s position, they put in a lot of money last year, but this type of one-off arrangement will always work better if funds are available,’’ he said.
‘‘The society is supportive of [the blitz], hopefully it can be organised, we all want to work at clearing the backlog, if we can.’’
