Page 3003 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 August 2008
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Title read by Clerk.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (10:42): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
The Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 introduces changes to the criminal justice system designed to enhance the efficiency of the system and therefore the delivery of justice. Before making these changes I issued a discussion paper and asked key stakeholders in the community for feedback on how best to make changes to enhance the efficiency of our criminal justice system.
Topics such as these always receive robust comment from the community at large and the legal profession in particular, and this occasion was no exception. I am grateful for that feedback and have used it in developing this bill and am confident that the input from the community has resulted in changes that further develop our criminal justice system and recognise the professionalism of our judicial officers.
The changes that are introduced in this bill include reforms to the process of committal of indictable offences to the Supreme Court and increases to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court. The length of sentences that a magistrate can impose for dealing with an indictable offence is also increased. The process by which an acquitted person can be paid costs is altered and the method for prosecution appeals from decisions in the Magistrates Court is amended.
In the discussion paper released by my department, questions were raised about the need for an amendment to the law that allows a judge to conduct a Supreme Court trial in the absence of a jury. I received significant feedback in response to these questions. This is an important issue that requires further consideration before the government decides which course to take. Therefore, it is not addressed in this bill and I will continue to analyse the material on this question before announcing policy on it.
The question of reform of the committal process has been an ongoing issue in both the ACT and the rest of Australia for a number of years. As other jurisdictions have amended their committal processes, we have observed the changes to determine how those reforms have worked and their suitability for the unique jurisdiction of the ACT. The changes that are introduced in this bill draw on those interstate experiences and on the needs of our own community.
The bill changes the system of committal hearings so that all committal hearings will be paper or hand-up committals, with magistrates making the assessment of whether a matter should be committed on the basis of the written evidence placed before them rather than on the oral evidence of witnesses called and cross-examined. In the reform system, witnesses will only be called to give oral evidence in limited circumstances after an applicant has satisfied the court that it is in the interests of justice for the witness to give evidence.
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