The Local Courts have an enormous burden – as well as dealing with small civil claims, all criminal matters start in the local court and the vast majority are finalised there.
About 250,000 cases are finalised in the local courts of NSW each year, while more serious offences are sent on to the District Court or to the Supreme Court. Traffic offences like drink driving and less serious criminal cases like common assault and drug possession stay in the Local Court.
But without much fanfare and even less publicity, local courthouses around NSW have been closing – and in 2013, nine were scheduled to be closed. Some of them have already shut, like North Sydney and Ryde Local Courts.
This year will see the closure of more courts: Balmain Local Court will close on June 24 and the Local Court in Kogarah is scheduled to close a few months later.
What happens to all the cases?
With these courts closed, it would be up to other local courthouses to take the new matters – adding pressure to already overloaded court lists.
When the closure of Kogarah Local Court was announced, the President of the St George-Sutherland Law Society Peter Fowler said local legal professionals were disappointed with the drop in funding for local courts.
Cases that are currently allocated to Kogarah court will likely be sent to the Sutherland Local Court, or perhaps even Downing Centre Local Court.
The Downing Centre will receive the majority of cases from closed courthouses, such as those coming from Balmain and North Sydney.
Cases from Ryde have been transferred to Burwood Local Court since its 2013 closure.
The closure of local courts can mean that defendants, complainants and witnesses have to travel further to attend court, and that waiting times can be longer due to the backlog of cases.
You only have to turn up to a busy courthouse like the Downing Centre to see that Magistrates have their work cut-out for them getting through dozens of cases a day.
Let’s not forget that Magistrates often have to decide complex issues and make difficult decisions, for example, whether or not to sent someone to prison. These decisions should not be rushed, but if there is a full courtroom and to get through in a limited timeframe, cases may not get the full attention that they need.
At the same time, vacant Magistrate positions are remaining unfilled – which means that more and more cases must be dealt with by fewer magistrates.
Adding to the problem is that court funding is shrinking – despite the NSW government’s “tough on crime” and law enforcement rhetoric.
Where to from here?
Previous budgets have been tough, and the 2013 budget dropped the funding for courts from $450 million to $436 million while the police force got extra funding and expanded its numbers.
These cost-cutting measures are the primary reason behind the closure of NSW courts.
The 2015 budget is scheduled to deliver $1.3 billion to courts over the next five years to improve services, including refurbishment of holding cells and buildings.
The Law Society of NSW is cautiously optimistic in light of the latest budget. With this positive news, it is hoped that no more court closures are on the way.
