The Greens’ Shane Rattenbury is slowing down Simon Corbell’s rush to get more trials out of the Supreme Court and into the harder hearted Magistrates.
“The Greens are concerned that the Government’s model for sending cases to the Magistrates Court is too blunt and some serious cases may end up not having access to a jury trial.
“Jury trials for serious cases are deeply rooted in our legal system and we shouldn’t give them up lightly.
“Our proposal involves a pre-trial assessment of seriousness of the charges to determine whether the case can be heard summarily by a Magistrate or if a jury trial in the Supreme Court is warranted. This more nuanced system will help address the court backlog while ensuring we retain jury trials for more serious cases.
Oh great, another level of assessment.