Editorial: Verdict has fallen on court efficiency

Courts are duty-bound to concern themselves with facts and evidence, not opinions or agenda — it is incredibly disappointing, then, that those in control of our justice system won’t acknowledge the fact their much-ballyhooed efficiency reforms have made going to court much worse.

• ‘Faster’ court system slower than ever before

Courts are duty-bound to concern themselves with facts and evidence, not opinions or agenda.

It is incredibly disappointing, then, that those in control of our justice system won’t acknowledge the fact their much-ballyhooed efficiency reforms have made going to court much worse.

As revealed by The Advertiser , just 13 criminal cases have progressed from the Magistrates Court to the District Court’s trial list since the reforms came into force in March.

Under the old system – which, do not be mistaken, was itself flawed – between 400 and 500 cases would be sent to trial over that same 10-month period.

That means, conservatively, 387 alleged offenders are on bail or in custody waiting for their day in court while 387 alleged victims are wondering if they will ever receive justice.

Tensions between SA Police, magistrates, prosecutors and vital resources such as Forensic Science SA are already inflamed.

The Christmas break will have somewhat cooled, but cannot extinguish, these passionate disputes.

So why, then, will neither the legislators nor the courts consider these facts and hand down a verdict?

The reforms are the legacy of former Attorney-General John Rau SC – the last, lingering ghost of the Labor government and its “rushed through, not thought through” approach to lawmaking.

Despite warnings from the legal profession and victims’ groups, Mr Rau pushed on – leaving his Liberal successor, Vickie Chapman, to bear the fallout.

Ms Chapman says there is no need for haste and, while acknowledging today’s figures, claims her statistics – to be released in two months’ time – will be “vast” and more comprehensive.

Yet the clear inference to be drawn from today’s statistics is that, in two months’ time, the courts’ problems will only be worse.

This is not the time for the state’s top lawmaker to quibble over “skewed data”.

The only way this will resolve is for someone to grasp the nettle and take action.