Dan Andrew’s world record lockdown behind crippling court backlogs, crims leaving jail early

Judges have been told to slash sentences of criminals doing time to ease a crippling court backlog. Here’s why.

Daniel Andrews’ world record lockdown is seeing criminals walk from jail early in a bid to curb crippling court backlogs.

It comes as the Saturday Herald Sun can reveal judges are already reducing sentences for criminals who plead guilty following a landmark Court of Appeal judgment.

The judgment, handed down last year, ruled that standard sentencing discounts for pleas of guilty should be increased in a bid to encourage cases going to trial and help clear the backlogs.

With more than 100,000 cases still pending before the courts, judges have been told to slash sentences because of lengthy waits for cases to get to trial.

Barristers now warn the delays, already among the most common mitigating factors used to reduce sentences, will feature more prominently.

Premier Daniel Andrews’ world record lockdowns are behind the crippling court backlog. Picture: David Geraghty.

Top barrister Theo Alexander said it was only logical that there should be mitigatory benefit of having to wait for trial where a delay has been brought about by Covid.

And he said if delays increased, it was likely sentencing discounts because of those delays would become more generous.

“If the delays become extensive or even inordinate, then the mitigatory impact on a sentence would increase commensurately,” Dr Alexander said.

“There’s obviously a significant risk that given the backlog of trials, people might experience longer delays than normal.”

It has long been held that delay can reduce sentences because of the stress and anxiety caused to an offender forced to wait for trial through no fault of their own.

Barrister Paul Holdenson said: “whenever there is a delay, you can be sure that defence counsel will rely on it.”

“Although one might well debate the extent of their magnitude, and the length of time it will take to bring them within acceptable limits, it is an undeniable fact that enormous and intimidating backlogs in the criminal lists of both the County Court and Magistrates’ Court have resulted from the government’s response to the pandemic,” the court found.

Crims are having their sentences slashed in a big to ease the backlog. Picture: Joe Castro.

“This Court cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that, by any yardstick, the backlogs in the resolution of criminal cases in those courts will take years to rein in.

“Unacceptable delay in the disposition of criminal cases is endemic.

“Indeed, it is not an overstatement to say that the system of criminal justice in this State is in crisis, requiring a response from the courts.

The court ruled that “given the unhappy state of the courts’ lists” the courts must encourage those accused who are guilty to plead ahead of trial.

New figures released by the Magistrates Court of Victoria on Friday revealed its pending case load had fallen to 111,740 as at April 31 down from a peak of 145,512 in December 2020.

In the County Court about 1,400 trials are waiting to be heard.

Senior legal sources believe the backlog could plague the courts for up to a decade.

The auditor general recently found Victoria would need 179 more courtrooms — a 70 per cent increase — in 15 years.

Another $186m was needed to bring court buildings up to standard and $369m would be needed within five years to maintain facilities.

The state government this week committed an additional $41 million in funding to help clear case backlogs caused by the pandemic.

A government spokesperson said taking outside factors into account in sentencing is what happens in a fair and responsive justice system.

“This hasn’t changed because of the pandemic. As a system independent of government, the courts have always considered the broader context of the cases before them and how valuable the plea of guilty is,” she said.

“We have been clear that it will take some time for things to get back to normal — and that we’ll keep making the investments and reforms needed to help our courts catch-up as quickly as possible.

“We have injected more than $340 million since the start of the pandemic to ensure that the courts could continue to hear cases and to speed up the resolution of matters.”