NT Local Courts backlog caused by lack of judges and Covid

Territory courts have taken an extraordinary measure to meet the backlog of cases clogging the courts. SEE WHAT IT IS.

TERRITORY courts have taken an extraordinary measure to meet the backlog of cases clogging the courts.

Hundreds of people fighting accusations of crimes ranging from drink driving to aggravated assault could face at least a six-month wait to plead their case.

An NT Courts spokesman has confirmed there was a backlog of cases, forcing the Darwin Local Court to allocate contested hearing dates for the next calendar year.

He said a judge would allocate the dates on Wednesday, July 13 as the majority of contested hearing dates for 2022 had already been scheduled.

A contested hearing is where an accused person is either pleading not guilty or disputes some of the claims made by police.

“There are a large number of contested hearings due to be heard this calendar year,” he said.

“There are still available dates for people who are in custody and some dates for those who are on bail.

“At a call over on July 13 efforts will be made to sort out when they can all be heard.

“By that date next year’s court calendar will have been organised, which allows for the allocation of dates.”

More than 500 cases were listed for Darwin Local Court on Wednesday, July 13.

On Wednesday Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris sat beside three teetering piles of orange folders arranged by year of alleged offence.

Ms Morris said an approximately 15cm tall pile held all the cases prior to 2020, a 20cm pile for the matters from 2021, while a 30cm stack contained all the contested matters from this year.

The first case was related to an alleged stealing offence from 2018, four years ago.

The court spokesman said the call over hearing was highly unusual, with the backlog forcing the courts to take the measure which “has not been (used) in recent times”.

He said judges on leave or retiring and Covid delays were the cause of the backlog.

“Due to some circumstances beyond the court’s control … there are a higher number of contested hearings outstanding than is usually the case,” he said.

The court spokesman said 2022 dates were still available for people in custody as they were being prioritised by the courts.

He said the current average wait time for a contested hearing date for those on bail was about five to six months.

Originally published as NT Local Courts backlog caused by lack of judges and Covid