Page 22 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 15 February 2011
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In general, it is only after the three-stage process in the Magistrates Court is extinguished that the matter can proceed to the Supreme Court. Bail applications in relation to matters being dealt with in the Supreme Court must continue to be made to the Supreme Court.
In the Supreme Court, only one bail application can be made before having to demonstrate changed circumstances or fresh evidence or information relevant for further applications. If two or more bail applications have already been made in the Magistrates Court, change of circumstances has to be shown for the first application in the Supreme Court.
The second arm of reform that this bill carries will enable the Magistrates Court, when already sitting on a weekend or public holiday, to make bail decisions in matters involving arrest for breach of bail in Supreme Court cases. This is to mitigate the need to hold an accused in custody over a weekend or public holiday until the Supreme Court can hear the bail application.
It should be noted that these bail applications and review arrangements apply equally to the accused and the informant.
These reforms make the system of justice more accessible to our community, and the Canberra Liberals think that this is a good thing. But for this government that was only a secondary consideration. The bottom line of this bill, according to the attorney, is to reduce the caseload in the Supreme Court.
This government, in its arrogance—as well as the arrogance of this Attorney-General—makes it incapable of embracing recommendations other than its own, and it will only implement ideas of its own. Perhaps, had this government listened to the legal profession in terms of structural reforms in the Supreme Court, instead of running off in other directions without proper consultation, the focus on the kinds of reforms that this bill represents could have been more on the community and the benefits that it will bring to the community and to the justice system.
Instead, the reforms are made on the basis that they will relieve pressure on the Supreme Court, and that is the primary focus of a government that is struggling to find solutions because of a refusal to listen to the people who are on the ground and using the court system every day.
We are pleased to support the reforms in the Bail Amendment Bill 2010 because they are of benefit to the community. We do not support it for the government’s singular purpose—to relieve pressure on the Supreme Court.
In that context, this bill represents little more than another band-aid to reforming the court system in the ACT. Indeed, there are too many band-aids on the court system overall, and this is just another on top of all the other band-aids. The government does not have the will or the guts to get down to the wound, treat it, dress it and heal it.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.04): The Greens will be supporting this bill today. It makes changes to the bail process to ensure that relatively straightforward
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