Chief Magistrate says eighth magistrate 'not enough'

The ACT's Chief Magistrate said on Tuesday that the addition of an eighth full time magistrate to the court will not be enough to improve timely access to justice.

Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said the modelling that had been done suggested the court needed more than eight and at least nine magistrates if it wanted a "slight increase" in efficiency.

The ACT government announced on Monday ahead of its 2018 budget that it would give the court $3.1 million over the next four years for an extra magistrate. Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said that the new magistrate would increase access to justice and timeliness in the courts system.

But Ms Walker said that because she was already using two special magistrates "probably significantly in excess of a whole magistrate", the addition of an eighth magistrate would maintain the "status quo".

She said that situation was not ideal because special magistrates were not tenured and were instead appointed only for certain lengths of time at the discretion of the government.

Ms Walker said that when the justice system was understaffed, one of the biggest problems, particularly given the fullness of Canberra's prison, was that people spend more time in custody on remand. Delays in the justice system also meant people waited unreasonably long times for a hearing.

She said not only is a person entitled to have their matter dealt with quickly, but sometimes when those on remand in Canberra are eventually dealt with, they spend no further time in custody, having either served the jail term or are not sentenced to full time imprisonment.

Ms Walker said she understood the allocation of government resources was a balancing act.

"I'm not going to advocate for extra judicial resources over extra psychiatric units, for example, because obviously that need is huge. But what I would say is, have a look at what the delays in justice are costing, and it's not just about people feeling good and feeling happy," she said. She said she would like to see more research done on the known costs associated with people being kept in custody, and whether that was influenced by the lack of judicial resources.

Ms Walker said the court had made changes to improve efficiency, including sitting for longer hours and "overlisting" matters, to account for matters that do not proceed, but even with those changes, "we still haven't been able to significantly reduce those times to hearing, and also for sentence too".

With the addition of an eighth magistrate, one option the chief magistrate was considering was to dedicate one of the judicial staff to coronial work part-time. The ACT Coroner's Court - staffed by magistrates who are also coroners but often forced to prioritise their work as the former - has long struggled with delays.

But Ms Walker said it would still be difficult with a dedicated coroner to meet the demand for that work as well as the work of a magistrate and the appointment of an eighth magistrate was unlikely to relieve the burden on the coronial system.

Ms Walker said she appreciated the government's early announcement, which meant the new magistrate could be appointed as soon as the money became available.

"That's where perhaps I feel a little ungrateful," Ms Walker said. "I appreciate this is an important commitment, I'm just saying that realistically, it's not quite enough."