Simon Corbell says reforms to the ACT Courts have led to reduced waiting times in the Supreme Court and Coroner’s Court, according to the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services.
The report showed changes implemented in the ACT’s courts have resulted in the ACT Supreme Court finalising more matters than are being lodged, resulting in a 56 per cent reduction in criminal matters pending and a 59 per cent decrease in civil matters pending since 2009-10.
Pending cases in Coroner’s Court have reduced by 47 per cent over the past two years, due to a focus by the court on backlog reduction, combined with legislative amendments removing unnecessary matters from the jurisdiction of the coroner.
“Since 2009 the ACT justice system has undergone a series of changes and these figures show that the reforms are continuing to produce successful results,” Corbell said in a statement.
“Matters are moving through the courts more quickly and the ACT Supreme Court has continued to reduce backlog through intensive listing procedures and increase use of mediation with excellent results.”