The Snitch: Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson says local courts are underfunded

The state government has copped a serve from Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson for underfunding the NSW Local Court system — and it’s not the first time he has lashed out.

NSW Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson has taken aim at the state government’s funding of Local Courts.

For the second year in a row, NSW Local Court Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson has used the foreword in his annual review to fire a shot at the NSW government for starving his court of resources.

The Local Court system is the busiest in NSW and deals with almost 350,000 criminal cases each year, ranging from parking tickets to the preliminary hearings for serious cases like murder.

NSW Local Court Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson is not mincing words when it comes to funding issues.

The latest annual review was released in September and deals with the 2019 year.

In it, Judge Henson says the case load is increasing and his calls for the government — stretching back to 2018 — to provide more resources have been ignored.

“The year 2019 saw no increase in the number of magistrates despite advice … to government that to maintain a sensible balance between expectations and outcomes, without unduly prejudicing the health and wellbeing of the court, there was a need for an increase in resources of up to 10 magistrates,” he wrote.

“There has been no real response from government other than advice from the Attorney-General (Mark Speakman) to the effect that he understands the basis of the request and is lending his support.”

Judge Henson then pointed out that the Local Courts are being asked to deal with serious and complex matters, with the volume of cases ever increasing.

Attorney General Mark Speakman. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA NewsWire

“The year ending December 2019 saw yet another rise in criminal prosecutions brought before this jurisdiction — 7711 more matters than in 2018,” he wrote. “Raising the total volume of criminal proceedings commenced to 346,930.”

The result was magistrates working longer hours and struggling to find time to complete out-of-court work, like writing judgments.

“It is somewhat ironic that governments are more than content to amend legislation to enable more and more serious matters to be directed away from (courts) above the Local Court but never proactively turn their mind to the impact such decisions have on the working environment, health and wellbeing of those who are already burdened with significant responsibilities” Judge Henson wrote.

In response, Mr Speakman recognised magistrates had a challenging and time-consuming role. “While I have periodic discussions with the Chief Magistrate about issues in his jurisdiction, resourcing for the Local Court remains under review as part of the budget process,” he said.

UP FOR GRABS

A game of musical chairs is on the horizon for a handful of the police force’s assistant commissioners.

The word is the straight-talking Paul Pisanos and Gelina Talbot will swap portfolios and settle into the Professional Standards Command and the Youth Command respectively.

Paul Pisanos will head p the Professional Standards Command. Picture: Craig Wilson

The North West Metropolitan region spot also appears open, after the force’s passionate spokesman on domestic and family violence Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones recently flagged his departure.

It’ll be a prelude to the competitive opening act next month, when two of three deputy commissioner positions are expected to be advertised.

PUT THE PHONE AWAY!

Guess which Sydney barrister was rapped over the knuckles after an unsavoury and unwanted text chain with a female employee?

Snitch hears the barrister’s late-night messages on Instagram didn’t go down well with the employee.

The committee at his chambers got wind of the suggestive texts and it is understood the barrister got a stern talking to.

Contacted this week, the chambers declined to comment on “private matters”, while the barrister’s lawyer says he wasn’t asked to leave chambers, nor does he intend to.

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