The ACT government and Greens have used their numbers to block a motion to expand the territory's Supreme Court bench.
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The Canberra Liberals tried on Wednesday to secure the support of the Legislative Assembly for funding in June's territory budget for a fifth judge to help ease delays in the gridlocked court.
The Law Society, the Bar Association and the Chamber of Commerce have all backed the push by Chief Justice Terence Higgins for an extra judge, a push resisted by Attorney-General Simon Corbell.
The government and Greens minister Shane Rattenbury voted against the proposal from Liberals justice spokesman Zed Seselja, arguing there were already ''significant'' efforts under way to address delays in the court.
Mr Corbell told the Assembly the workload of the territory's judges and the number of criminal and civil matters lodged in the ACT were below that of other jurisdictions.
''In order to improve access to justice and reduce delays in the courts, the government undertook significant reforms during the last term of government,'' he said.
''Work continues on a range of other important reforms.''
Mr Corbell said support for the Supreme Court in its docket case management system and increasing the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court were among the reforms made to reduce delays.
The Attorney-General said the creation of an industrial magistrates court was among the changes to come in this term of government.
Before the motion was debated, Mr Seselja said the non-binding private members bill would send a message to the government that it was time for a fifth member of the Supreme Court bench.
''I've said publicly that it is time for a fifth judge and this would be the Assembly giving support for that,'' he said.
''We've listened to the legal community. Obviously there are a range of issues that need to be resolved, but when you look at how we stack up compared to other jurisdictions I think there's a pretty strong case that we are under-represented.''