Supreme Court backlog more than halves in four years

However, delays remain a problem with some cases outstanding for a number of years.

The backlog of cases causing delays due to the workload of judges has been a long-running issue in the Supreme Court, with the ACT Government forced to appoint a fifth judge to help address the problem.

The reserved judgements list, kept by the Supreme Court and updated monthly, shows 22 matters had been unresolved for more than three months to the end of November.

The figure is a more than 50 per cent reduction on mid-2013, when there were 46 unresolved cases before the court.

Justice Hilary Penfold currently has 14 reserved decisions on the list of 22 unresolved matters, with seven of those judgements on hold for more than two years.

Justice Penfold also sat on two ACT Court of Appeal matters that have been reserved more than one year.

The longest delay stretches back three years and three months, a reserved decision in a civil matter by Justice Penfold from August 2014.

Justice Richard Refshauge, who retired in May, has four matters awaiting a decision for more than three months.

The longest has taken more than two-and-a-half years.

Justice John Burns and Associate Justice Verity McWilliam, who started in June, had one reserved judgement each.

The court's other three permanent judges, Chief Justice Helen Murrell, Justice Michael Elkaim, and Justice David Mossop, had zero reserved judgements outstanding after three months.

Overall, the situation is much improved from four years ago when there was 46 unresolved matters before the court.

At the time, Justice Refshauge was stood down for six months to deal with a backlog of about 20 cases awaiting judgement.

The longest delay at that time was a complex civil case that took about five years to hand down.

ACT Law Society president Sarah Avery said the funding of a fifth judge had contributed to the court's ability to quickly provide just outcomes.

However, Ms Avery warned there needed to be a balance between speed and quality.

"A well-reasoned, high-quality judgement is always the best outcome, and the Law Society takes the view that a reasonable compromise on time to judgement is three months, especially in complex matters," she said.

"The justice system should always strive to provide just outcomes, and closure for the parties concerned, as efficiently as possible and as quickly as practicable.

"Timely decisions strengthen public confidence in the third pillar of government – the judiciary.

"They strengthen the rule of law in Australia. For the parties involved, and the broader community, timely decisions give resolution and certainty."

Ms Avery said the society strongly supported increased resources for both the Supreme and Magistrates Courts.

"This includes not only an appropriate number of judges at the courts, but also adequate funding for the many other supportive functions of the courts, and initiatives like restorative justice."

ACT Bar Association president Ken Archer was "heartened" by the "very significant improvement" in delays in recent years.

He said the Bar had previously expressed its concerns about delayed decisions but was aware the court had taken a number of steps to address the problems.

"An important part of that is that judges are given sufficient time out of court to tend to judgement writing."

Mr Archer agreed the fifth judge had freed up time and allowed "a degree of specialisation" in certain areas of law among judges.

He said Associate Justice McWilliam had "found her feet very quickly" and urged a quick replacement for Justice Penfold, who will retire next year, to prevent "a build-up of the court's business".