How Legal System Shakeup Would Work
by RACHEL MORRIS, Political Reporter
The Daily Telegraph, 28 November, 1998

JUDGES will be subjected to performance reviews and minimum qualifications for the judiciary established under sweeping reforms to the legal system before the State Government.

The District Court could be merged with the Supreme Court to create a single Superior Trial Court under a radical plan being considered by Attorney-General Jeff Shaw.

THE new Superior Trial Court would have a separate Court of Appeal with a core appeals judge and a rotating bench.

JURISDICTION of the Local Court to be increased from $40,000 to $100,000. JUDGES and tribunal members to be forced to meet performance indicators.

MINIMUM selection criteria setting out experience, competencies and skills expected of judicial officers to be formulated;

THE District Court would be merged with the Supreme Court to relieve congestion, reduce delays and streamline the system.

The report by the NSW Law Society, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, recommends a shakeup of the legal system which it says will make it more "accessible and cost-effective".

Under the plan, formulated by a selection of the top lawyers and titled "Access To Justice", judges and tribunal members will be forced to comply with performance indicators. Those standards include delivery of judgments on time, length of trials and the number of hours and days sat.

If they fail to comply with the standards they will be asked to explain publicly and face disciplinary action by the NSW Judicial Commission.

"Judicial officers and tribunal members must be accountable for their work," the report said.

The proposal follows the case of Supreme Court judge Vince Bruce who was found to be a "procrastinator" by the Judicial Commission after he delayed the delivery of judgments.

He remains on the bench after the Legislative Council voted not to remove him earlier this year. The report also recommended the selection process for judges and members of tribunals be overhauled and candidates for office hold minimum legal and academic qualifications.

Labelling the current selection process "shrouded in secrecy", the report recommended that minimum criteria should be set out including academic, legal and life experience.

But the most controversial recommendation contained in the report is the merging of the District Court with the Supreme Court.

In a bid to streamline the present structure, it is proposed the new court have two tiers,
distinguished by the seriousness of the dispute or the monetary amount involved.

The new court would have specialist divisions including personal injury, criminal, admiralty and administrative.

The court would have a separate Court of Appeal with a core appeals judge and a rotating bench.

It is proposed that the Industrial Court, Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Compensation Court and the Land and Environment Court remain unchanged.

It is also recommended that the jurisdiction of the Local Court be increased from $40,000 to $100,000.

It is proposed the changes be funded by the introduction of a levy on all matters filed in court and the collection of contributions from legal aid applicants.