Victoria’s court backlog crisis could take a decade to resolve

Wait times for criminal trials have blown out by years, as experts warn the backlog could plague Victorian courts for the next decade.

Victoria would need 179 additional courtrooms in 15 years to cope with the backlog of cases. Picture: Mark Stewart

Victoria’s justice system remains in crisis, amid warnings it could take a decade for the growing court backlog to recover.

Court whistleblowers say the true number of outstanding cases is being misrepresented and warn the backlog can’t be cleared without major investment.

The state government has refused to detail the number of pending cases.

However, outstanding case numbers peaked at about 200,000 in recent months, with wait times for criminal trials blowing out by up to three years.

The mammoth backlog was sparked by ongoing pandemic restrictions which forced courts grind to a halt.

Senior legal figures, speaking anonymously, told the Herald Sun judicial figures expected the backlog to plague courts for the next decade.

They say the problem is worst across the magistrates courts, where virtually all criminal matters begin.

“The backlog will continue to get worse as the court is still only travelling at a fraction of its capacity,” one senior figure said.

The problem is worst at Victoria’s magistrates’ courts. Picture: David Crosling

“That means, not only are the courts not clearing the backlog, the backlog is continuing to increase and will do so for many years to come.

“The government cannot simply appoint new magistrates as there are not enough courtrooms or chambers for them.”

A recent auditor-general’s report found Victoria will need an additional 179 courtrooms in 15 years — a 70 per cent increase on the system’s current capacity.

A further $186m was needed immediately to bring court buildings up to standard and a further $369m would be needed within five years to maintain facilities at standard.

“Each suburban court is getting a new magistrate, but there is no courtroom or chambers for them,” the legal source said.

“They will be required to rotate a work-from-home system or simply accept that one magistrate will not be sitting each day.

“At Melbourne, there are more magistrates than court rooms. This creates delay to the accused (who may be guilty or not guilty) and the victim.

“Anecdotally, an accused that does not get brought before the Court for 12 months is likely to commit further offences as they have not had the salutary experience of appearing at court.

The government is attempting to speed up matters. Picture: David Crosling

“Conversely, the not guilty are dragged through a very slow process.”

A government spokeswoman said almost $300m had been injected into the justice system in a bid to speed up the resolution of matters.

It included improving remote-hearing services, upgrading technology, appointing more judicial officers and staff, and providing legal support to resolve matters before they get to court.

“Our judicial staff and the whole system did an amazing job adapting to the pandemic,” she said.

“While it’s not feasible to say with any certainty how long it will take, 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.”

Legislation to judge-only trials in criminal matters was also recently passed to drive down court backlogs.

There was a very low uptake of judge-only trials when they were first introduced in 2020 with an analysis of trial outcomes finding they led to a higher proportion of acquittals.