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THE NSW Attorney-General says she doesn’t have the power to permanently deploy district court judges to regional areas like Tamworth and Armidale, despite a push from her Nationals colleagues.
Other MPs have now joined a campaign led by Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall to have judges live this side of the Great Dividing Range and preside over regional courts, including three in the New England, to stop what he says is Sydney-centric “fly-in, fly-out justice”.
But in a statement to The Leader, Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton did not state whether she supports the idea, which she says was just a “proposal”.
“The decisions about where and when District Court judges sit are made by the Chief Judge of the District Court,” she said.
“I look forward to talking more with Adam about his proposal and working with him to ensure the NSW Liberal-National government can continue to deliver fast, fair and accessible justice services, both in the Northern Tablelands and all our regional centres.”
Accused people before the court can wait up to 12 months for a trial date in Tamworth and Armidale, only to have the case adjourned if priority cases go ahead.
Ms Upton said there was a $20 million investment to deal with the backlog across the state but no extra sittings have been announced for Tamworth and Armidale in the 2016-17 year, while Moree will have two extra sitting weeks allocated.
In the 2016-17 period, the district court will sit in Armidale for 19 weeks while in Tamworth it will sit for 16 weeks across both criminal and civil jurisdictions.
Mr Marshall confirmed he had raised the proposal with the Attorney-General weeks ago and won’t back down.
“It’s not Sydney sentencing, it will be local sentencing,” he said, adding he had fielded calls from MPs since the proposal was revealed by The Leader yesterday.
“It also gives support to the local court magistrates, who live in the areas they work, that lament reasonable decisions in local courts which are then overturned in the district court.”
Yesterday, Nationals Leader Troy Grant said he supports “effective courts for our regional communities”, while fellow Nationals MP Andrew Gee joined the campaign.
“I believe it’s best to have criminal appeals heard by a local judge who would be more in tune with local community attitudes and standards,” he said.
“People in the bush should also have the same access to our system of justice as those in the city.”
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