Bail justices – who suffered a vicious public backlash in the aftermath of the Bourke Street tragedy – release a fraction of the accused criminals who come before them compared with magistrates, internal government data shows.
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One month after Daniel Andrews announced a sweeping review of Victoria's bail system, new figures reveal that bail justices refused to release accused people in 82 per cent of cases last financial year.
The refusal rate was more than magistrates, who remanded about 18 per cent of people charged with failing to answer bail – although the government points out it is hard to make clear comparisons because magistrates have different roles and hear a broader range of applications.
Nonetheless, the data has thrown fresh spotlight on the question of whether to restrict the use of bail justices in Victoria in order to ensure certain offenders are not released into the community – just as alleged murderer Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas was in the days leading up to the Bourke Street rampage.
Attorney-General Martin Pakula said he would await the findings of a review being conducted by former Director of Public Prosecutions Paul Coghlan, but added: "nothing is off the table".
However, bail justices – who work for free and do not require formal legal qualifications – have told Mr Coghlan they feel "disillusioned at being targeted as ill equipped and no longer relevant for a role in addressing the lawlessness in this state."
In a submission to the review, they also expressed outrage over the "insensitive scapegoating" of the bail justice who released Gargasoulas, and argued that one decision in isolation "does not mean that the bail justice system is flawed".
"On the contrary, with around 12,000 bail/remand hearings and 1000 child protection cases conducted across 129 police stations in Victoria in 2015-2016 without any other incident it is evident that this highly efficient system is working well," says the submission by the Bail Justice Working Party, which was formed in the wake of the Bourke Street tragedy.
Gargasoulas 26, was bailed six days before last month's horror, sparking outrage from politicians and the public. In a bid to tackle concerns, the government set up "night court" to hear out-of-hours bail applications for serious cases.
That court came into effect on February 6, with magistrates hearing cases at Melbourne between 5pm and 9pm, however a spokeswoman for the court said she could not answer questions about how many cases have been heard or what percentage of cases have ended up with people being remanded in custody.
Nor did the government answer questions about when it expected the night court to be rolled out regionally, and how this would be paid for. Bail justices continue to carry the majority of out of hours bail applications.
