Top barrister David Edwardson, QC, says John Rau’s proposed SA court reforms are unfair on defendants
YOU are innocent until proved guilty, but will proposed changes to the state’s justice system undermine that basic pillar of law? A top barrister thinks so.
PEOPLE fighting for their innocence will be at a serious disadvantage under proposed changes to the state’s justice system, an international criminal law conference has been told.
Prominent defence barrister David Edwardson, QC, told the International Criminal Law Congress that plans to force people accused of serious crimes to reveal their defence much earlier amounted to telling prosecutors and police how to prove their guilt.
Mr Edwardson told the congress there was alarm among the legal profession over many of the proposals which were “unworkable and unduly punitive’’. He said the changes would be vigorously opposed.
There were serious concerns about new provisions that would see both the defence and prosecution provide “case statements’’ to the court six weeks before arraignment and then the defence filing another case statement in response four weeks after receiving the prosecution document.
“The proposed reforms to major indictable matters in this Bill present a significant departure from well-established conventions and principles of the criminal law that would follow from obliging an accused, facing the prospect of a lengthy term of imprisonment, to disclose his or her defence months in advance of trial,’’ Mr Edwardson told the congress.
“It is no answer to say that the respective merits of the parties’ cases will have to be adjudicated by a jury and nothing is lost by requiring the accused to reveal his or her case earlier than currently required.
“At every stage of the pretrial and trial process, practical experience tells us that as soon as the defence discloses anything about the issues to be litigated in criminal trials, the prosecution and police invariably set about disarming those issues and forensically neutralising them.
“Essentially, what these reforms contemplate is that those accused of serious crimes should tell prosecutors and police how to more readily prove their guilt.
“The consequences of an early disclosure of defence protocol works a fundamental alteration to the nature of accusatorial justice.’’
The congress, attended by more than 200 delegates including senior Supreme Court Justices, District Court judges and barristers from the UK, New Zealand and Australia, yesterday heard discussion on the proposed reforms for almost an hour.
Attorney-General John Rau last month unveiled the proposal aimed at reducing case times and lessening the enormous backlog of cases in the District and Supreme Court jurisdictions.
Mr Rau last night said the draft Bill was released “as part of the consultation process with the legal community.’’
“Mr Edwardson is welcome to make a submission,’’ he said.