❓ Question regarding the number of District Court trials vacated due to unavailable forensic evidence. The Attorney General acknowledges delays and outlines steps taken to improve efficiency, but doesn't provide a specific number.
AnsweredQoN 142Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PATHWEST AND INVESTIGATIVE AGENCIES - COMMON NUMBERING SYSTEM
I have a supplementary question. Does the Attorney General have any idea of how many of the 439 adjourned District Court trials last year were vacated because forensic evidence was not available on time? Mr J.A. McGINTY
I have a supplementary question. Does the Attorney General have any idea of how many of the 439 adjourned District Court trials last year were vacated because forensic evidence was not available on time? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I have been working very closely with the Chief Judge of the District Court, the Director of Public Prosecutions and others in looking at ways in which trials can be more efficiently conducted in the District Court. We have far too long a delay in dealing with major trials in the District Court in this state. The current delay - it has been this way for many years - is more than one year. That is not acceptable, and for that reason we have established, in discussion with the Chief Judge of the District Court, a working group, which has met now on a number of occasions, involving the Chief Justice, the DPP, the Chief Judge and the police - everybody who is involved in this matter - to make sure that trials proceed when they should. The District Court does a number of things. It overlists the number of trials that take place knowing full well that there will be late pleas of guilty, late adjournments and things of that nature. In those cases in which a trial has not proceeded, the DPP and I have analysed each case and the reasons that it has not proceeded. We are addressing each of those matters. In some cases the reason is the failure to properly prepare a witness; sometimes it is the sickness of a prosecutor or defence person. There is a variety of reasons that these matters do not proceed when they should. It is in everybody’s interest that the delays be minimised.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I have been working very closely with the Chief Judge of the District Court, the Director of Public Prosecutions and others in looking at ways in which trials can be more efficiently conducted in the District Court. We have far too long a delay in dealing with major trials in the District Court in this state. The current delay - it has been this way for many years - is more than one year. That is not acceptable, and for that reason we have established, in discussion with the Chief Judge of the District Court, a working group, which has met now on a number of occasions, involving the Chief Justice, the DPP, the Chief Judge and the police - everybody who is involved in this matter - to make sure that trials proceed when they should. The District Court does a number of things. It overlists the number of trials that take place knowing full well that there will be late pleas of guilty, late adjournments and things of that nature. In those cases in which a trial has not proceeded, the DPP and I have analysed each case and the reasons that it has not proceeded. We are addressing each of those matters. In some cases the reason is the failure to properly prepare a witness; sometimes it is the sickness of a prosecutor or defence person. There is a variety of reasons that these matters do not proceed when they should. It is in everybody’s interest that the delays be minimised.
I have been working very closely with the Chief Judge of the District Court, the Director of Public Prosecutions and others in looking at ways in which trials can be more efficiently conducted in the District Court. We have far too long a delay in dealing with major trials in the District Court in this state. The current delay - it has been this way for many years - is more than one year. That is not acceptable, and for that reason we have established, in discussion with the Chief Judge of the District Court, a working group, which has met now on a number of occasions, involving the Chief Justice, the DPP, the Chief Judge and the police - everybody who is involved in this matter - to make sure that trials proceed when they should. The District Court does a number of things. It overlists the number of trials that take place knowing full well that there will be late pleas of guilty, late adjournments and things of that nature. In those cases in which a trial has not proceeded, the DPP and I have analysed each case and the reasons that it has not proceeded. We are addressing each of those matters. In some cases the reason is the failure to properly prepare a witness; sometimes it is the sickness of a prosecutor or defence person. There is a variety of reasons that these matters do not proceed when they should. It is in everybody’s interest that the delays be minimised.
The District Court does a number of things. It overlists the number of trials that take place knowing full well that there will be late pleas of guilty, late adjournments and things of that nature. In those cases in which a trial has not proceeded, the DPP and I have analysed each case and the reasons that it has not proceeded. We are addressing each of those matters. In some cases the reason is the failure to properly prepare a witness; sometimes it is the sickness of a prosecutor or defence person. There is a variety of reasons that these matters do not proceed when they should. It is in everybody’s interest that the delays be minimised.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I have been working very closely with the Chief Judge of the District Court, the Director of Public Prosecutions and others in looking at ways in which trials can be more efficiently conducted in the District Court. We have far too long a delay in dealing with major trials in the District Court in this state. The current delay - it has been this way for many years - is more than one year. That is not acceptable, and for that reason we have established, in discussion with the Chief Judge of the District Court, a working group, which has met now on a number of occasions, involving the Chief Justice, the DPP, the Chief Judge and the police - everybody who is involved in this matter - to make sure that trials proceed when they should. The District Court does a number of things. It overlists the number of trials that take place knowing full well that there will be late pleas of guilty, late adjournments and things of that nature. In those cases in which a trial has not proceeded, the DPP and I have analysed each case and the reasons that it has not proceeded. We are addressing each of those matters. In some cases the reason is the failure to properly prepare a witness; sometimes it is the sickness of a prosecutor or defence person. There is a variety of reasons that these matters do not proceed when they should. It is in everybody’s interest that the delays be minimised.
I have been working very closely with the Chief Judge of the District Court, the Director of Public Prosecutions and others in looking at ways in which trials can be more efficiently conducted in the District Court. We have far too long a delay in dealing with major trials in the District Court in this state. The current delay - it has been this way for many years - is more than one year. That is not acceptable, and for that reason we have established, in discussion with the Chief Judge of the District Court, a working group, which has met now on a number of occasions, involving the Chief Justice, the DPP, the Chief Judge and the police - everybody who is involved in this matter - to make sure that trials proceed when they should. The District Court does a number of things. It overlists the number of trials that take place knowing full well that there will be late pleas of guilty, late adjournments and things of that nature. In those cases in which a trial has not proceeded, the DPP and I have analysed each case and the reasons that it has not proceeded. We are addressing each of those matters. In some cases the reason is the failure to properly prepare a witness; sometimes it is the sickness of a prosecutor or defence person. There is a variety of reasons that these matters do not proceed when they should. It is in everybody’s interest that the delays be minimised.
The District Court does a number of things. It overlists the number of trials that take place knowing full well that there will be late pleas of guilty, late adjournments and things of that nature. In those cases in which a trial has not proceeded, the DPP and I have analysed each case and the reasons that it has not proceeded. We are addressing each of those matters. In some cases the reason is the failure to properly prepare a witness; sometimes it is the sickness of a prosecutor or defence person. There is a variety of reasons that these matters do not proceed when they should. It is in everybody’s interest that the delays be minimised.
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