Matt Cunningham’s analysis of Northern Territory justice system

The full extent of how badly the system appears to be collapsing was no better illustrated than by a case in the Darwin Local Court this week, writes Matt Cunningham.

The Northern Territory’s so-called “justice system” is in crisis.

Its descent into a chaotic, dysfunctional mess that lets down victims and alleged offenders has been exposed in a series of high-profile cases.

But the full extent of how badly the system appears to be collapsing was no better illustrated than by a case in the Darwin Local Court this week that attracted far less attention.

The case involved a man charged with six offences including aggravated assaults and criminal damage over incidents in July last year.

According to details revealed in court, the man had been informed his ex-partner’s new boyfriend had been filming his teenage daughter in the shower.

He attended the alleged victim’s workplace and assaulted him before smashing his car windows with his fist, cutting his hand.

The alleged offender then attended Royal Darwin Hospital to have his hand treated, where he again ran into the victim and allegedly assaulted him.

In another unfortunate co-incidence, the two men attended at the hospital for surgery at the same time the following day, where the man has been charged with another count of alleged assault.

The accused was ready to plead guilty to all charges in the Darwin Local Court this week when events took an unusual turn.

The prosecution, 16 months after the alleged incidents and 14 months after charges were first laid, informed the defence it was adding the charge of engaging in conduct likely to cause serious harm.

Judge John Neill’s questioning of the prosecutor revealed the “serious harm” charge had been laid to prevent the Local Court dealing with the case.

The new charge required the consent of the prosecution to have the matter heard in the Local Court, which it refused to give, in order to allow it to start new investigations into whether “serious harm” had been caused.

The new charge was laid despite the existence of a sworn statutory declaration from a Royal Darwin Hospital doctor from September 4 this year, stating the victim’s injuries amounted to “physical harm” as charged, but not “serious harm”.

The prosecution told the court that in recent weeks the alleged victim, who is facing charges relating to the filming of the accused’s daughter, had claimed his arm was “completely shattered” and he was unable to work.

So the case was being effectively reopened.

Judge John Neill quickly pointed out this evidence was “completely inconsistent” with the doctor’s statutory declaration.

The comments that followed, from two of the Territory’s most experienced legal practitioners, should ring alarm bells.

“The matters leading to (the serious harm charge) have arisen very late in the piece because, it seems to me, the way that the office of the prosecutor goes about preparing matters,” Judge Neill said.

“They seem to leave them on the shelves until shortly before the due date and then they go in to prosecute them.”

Defence barrister John Lawrence SC told the court this was not an isolated case.

“It depresses me to have to condescend once again into another procedural farce in this court,” he said.

“There is nothing stellar about what happens in this court, and it hasn’t been stellar for a large number of years.”

Judge Neill said both sides of the bar table were experiencing “the greatest of difficulties” and said the court itself was short of resources.

Mr Lawrence continued: “The thing that is so melancholic for myself as someone who has been a practitioner for 35 years is, when I’m making these objections and oppositions and so forth, I end up feeling more sorry for (the prosecutor) than I do for my client.

“She gets lumbered in an unsatisfactory way, with what totally illustrates how this system is working – hand to mouth.

“She is the one trying to do her best in circumstances created by others.

“The bench has a responsibility to sheet home to the authorities that these things can’t continue. We’ve all been normalised to feeling sorry for the authorities … because they don’t have the resources.”

Judge Neill agreed. “What you’re doing is you’re highlighting one area of problems that are rife throughout the lower court system in the NT,” he said.

The prosecution has been given until January 8 to provide medical evidence to support the serious harm charge.

The case will return to court on January 24.

That’s almost 18 months after the alleged incident in a case where the defence has indicated the accused intends to plead guilty.

The cost to taxpayers of Thursday’s 40-minute hearing – awarded to the defence – was $1710. But the cost to a fair and just society of a failing justice system cannot be measured in monetary terms.

As Mr Lawrence told the court this week: “This court is about producing justice - nothing more, nothing less – and it’s being compromised daily.”

Matt Cunningham has worked as a journalist in the Northern Territory for more than 12 years. He is a former editor of the Northern Territory News.

Originally published as Matt Cunningham’s analysis of Northern Territory justice system