Most ACT courts were unable to keep up with the number of cases being lodged in 2015-16, the Productivity Commission's 2017 Report on Government Services has shown.
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But it was the ACT Coroner's Court, where inquests and diaster investigations are heard, that appeared to struggle most with its caseload in that period, according to the measure known as a clearance rate.
A clearance rate of more than 100 means more cases were finalised than were lodged, and indicates the pending caseload has decreased. The opposite is true for a rate less than 100. The ACT Coroner's Court clearance rate was 85 in the year 2015-16, the lowest of all states and territories, and below the national average of 99.3.
It was also the court's lowest rate in the last six years.
Overall, ACT courts performed better on this rating in civil cases than in criminal. The civil division of the ACT Magistrates' Court performed well, with a rate above 100.
But the ACT Childrens' Court was a standout, with a rate of about 110 in both civil and criminal matters.
It is also useful to look at these figures over time.
On criminal cases overall, ACT courts held steady clearance rates around 97 for the last three years. The Children's Court consistently achieved a rate above 100.
Clearance rates also need to be read alongside pending caseload, or backlog, figures. For example, in the ACT Supreme Court, about 23 per cent of pending criminal cases had stretched beyond 12 months. About 47 per cent of civil cases in the higher court had taken longer than 12 months, while more than 30 per cent had gone on more than two years.
Agreed national targets say in supreme courts and coroners courts, no more than 10 per cent of cases should go for more than 12 months, and none should exceed 24 months. In magistrates courts, it is no more than 10 per cent of cases for 12 months, and zero beyond 12 months.
The latest figures show pending caseloads in the Supreme Court, the Magistrates Court and the Children's Court has remained steady over the last three years.
In the Coroner's Court, the ACT had the highest percentage of all the states and territories of cases that had gone on longer than 24 months, at nearly 18 per cent. Though this marked an improvement on the year before.
Ongoing delays in the ACT's court system have been attributed to resourcing pressures, including down the line at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and Legal Aid, as well as inefficient listing practices.
In July 2016, a long-awaited fifth Supreme Court judge was sworn into the role, which was too late to have an impact on these figures from the year 2015-16.
ACT courts are also experiencing a period of physical and digital reform. Construction of a new court precinct is underway, as is the implementation of a new paperless case management system.
The paperless system is expected to be finalised in mid-2018. The third and final release of this reform is also the most complex. It will include include interfaces with other justice agencies and the first tranche of online services, such as a facility to lodge key court and tribunal documents electronically, the government said.
"I am confident that further improvements will be realised as major projects are completed and procedural reforms implemented," Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said in a statement following the Productivity Commission figures.
