Supreme Court case backlog set to worsen in absence of Justice Gregory Geason

The state government admits the Tasmanian Supreme Court backlog issue is set to deteriorate with the absence of Justice Gregory Geason, who has been asked to take leave.

Tasmanian Supreme Court Justice Gregory Geason. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

The State Government admits the Tasmanian Supreme Court backlog issue will further deteriorate in the absence of Justice Gregory Geason, who was asked to take leave after being served with a family violence order.

On Friday, Attorney-General Guy Barnett revealed that Chief Justice Alan Blow had requested Justice Geason go on leave in the wake of what Minister Barnett described as a serious matter.

“The Chief Justice has asked the judge to take leave until further notice,” Mr Barnett said.

“As Attorney-General, I take this matter very seriously and will consider any further action as appropriate.”

In the most recent Supreme Court annual report, Chief Justice Blow described the ongoing backlog of first-instance criminal cases as the court’s “greatest challenge”.

“The backlog problem remains very serious,” the Chief Justice wrote.

“The only significant development is that a greater proportion of the pending cases are now in the Magistrates Court awaiting the making of committal orders and a smaller proportion are pending in the Supreme Court.”

On Saturday, Minister Nic Street said the Attorney-General was monitoring the situation, but that the issue of case backlogs were beyond the government’s scope.

“The balancing of the workload and the workflow is a matter for the Chief Justice and for the Supreme Court itself,” Mr Street said.

“We understand that with one judge less, there will obviously be a heavier workload on the other judges, but that’s something that the Chief Justice will work through.”

In 2021-22, there were 652 cases pending in the Supreme Court system, with a rise in cases still in progress when they were 12 months old and 24 months old.

Justice Geason was appointed to the seven-judge Supreme Court Bench in 2017.

The role attracts an annual salary of around $500,000.

No findings have been made against Justice Geason and he is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

Two years ago, Justice Geason was counselled by Chief Justice Blow after being seen kissing his female associate in a Hobart nightclub, following a Law Society dinner.