Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme up for review

This is a 2012 report from the ACT Ombudsman into the victims of crime financial assistance scheme

http://ombudsman.act.gov.au/files/investigation_2012_01.pdf

The ACTGS has advised that its records indicate that of the 407 matters
received since the beginning of 2008:

187 have been finalised
 53 remain active
in 82 matters, information requested by ACTGS is outstanding for a period of
at least three months
in 46 matters, the applicant has been advised that they were not entitled to
assistance
10 matters have been withdrawn or dismissed
 in eight matters, no application was received
 in 11 matters, the outcome of criminal or civil proceedings is awaited.

So one can glean that there are many cases which are still to be resolved which imo is totally unacceptable.

bundah said :

Seriously how hard can it be Simon? We’ve had grossly unacceptable delays in prosecuting criminals due to the backlog in the courts which unsurprisingly has impacted on victims of crime.When are you going to accept that we need at least one,preferably two additional judicial officers to deal with the current and future workload FFS?

Actually a conviction is not needed for VOC compensation. The judgement to compensate can be (and often is) made on the balance of probability, with no conviction but convincing evidence of the crime.

Pork Hunt said :

bundah said :

Well IP you say that “if only they pulled their fingers out” we would potentially reduce the delays in court judgements and sentencing.There is one very obvious problem with that suggestion ie. i seriously don’t believe that they’re capable of doing that for it appears that the current crop of judges have turned procrastination into an art form.It could also be that their workload is all a bit too much for them and they’re suffering from burnout.

The only absolutely certain thing,and this was highlighted by a now retired High Court judge, is that both the judiciary and legislature have their heads buried up their proverbial clackas.So i’m afraid unless they come to their senses the victims of their folly will continue to suffer and i reiterate that only by appointing an additional two judges will this farce be quickly remedied

Where are the Latin speakers when you need one?
What is “procrastinate now” in the ancient language?
It could be the new motto of the Law Courts…
Eo et redeo, chop chop.

For far too long they’ve had ‘caput sepultus in arena’..

bundah said :

Well IP you say that “if only they pulled their fingers out” we would potentially reduce the delays in court judgements and sentencing.There is one very obvious problem with that suggestion ie. i seriously don’t believe that they’re capable of doing that for it appears that the current crop of judges have turned procrastination into an art form.It could also be that their workload is all a bit too much for them and they’re suffering from burnout.

The only absolutely certain thing,and this was highlighted by a now retired High Court judge, is that both the judiciary and legislature have their heads buried up their proverbial clackas.So i’m afraid unless they come to their senses the victims of their folly will continue to suffer and i reiterate that only by appointing an additional two judges will this farce be quickly remedied

Where are the Latin speakers when you need one?
What is “procrastinate now” in the ancient language?
It could be the new motto of the Law Courts…
Eo et redeo, chop chop.

Well IP you say that “if only they pulled their fingers out” we would potentially reduce the delays in court judgements and sentencing.There is one very obvious problem with that suggestion ie. i seriously don’t believe that they’re capable of doing that for it appears that the current crop of judges have turned procrastination into an art form.It could also be that their workload is all a bit too much for them and they’re suffering from burnout.

The only absolutely certain thing,and this was highlighted by a now retired High Court judge, is that both the judiciary and legislature have their heads buried up their proverbial clackas.So i’m afraid unless they come to their senses the victims of their folly will continue to suffer and i reiterate that only by appointing an additional two judges will this farce be quickly remedied

When you don’t want to reach any outcome or wish to delay works for 10 years+ you have a study.

When you have no idea and want to be seen to be doing something (when your just sitting on your hands) you ask for a public consultation.

……. and then every 3-4 years you come up with some wizz bang idea like light rail or a future civic plan to shove a carrot in front of that years voters.

Pretty simple stuff really

The problem may be obvious, but the solution is not. If the curent judges (and some Magistrates, and probably the rest of the legal profession) pulled their fingers out and worked more efficiently, there might not be a need for any more judges.

Why do they adjourn for weeks for sentencing, for example, so they can completely forget the details of the case, while they deal with other cases, only to have to remind themselves of the detail weeks later when the matter comes back before them for sentencing? Just GET ON WITH IT. Sentencing is not that hard. I’ve sat through hours of defence and prosecution argument about sentencing, only to see it adjouned for weeks (to the distress of the victim), and the outcome for the offender was probably only negligibly different in the end, if it was any different at all.

Or if ACT sentencing is that hard, then make it simpler. It’s currently an infinitely variable smorgasbord of combination sentencing, and could be greatly simplified.

Similarly, why do they adjourn bail hearings to think about if for weeks, while the defendant sits in custody at enormous expense to the taxpayer and themselves waiting for a decision? The judicial officers should just learn to make up their minds.

The judiciary need to be independent, but they also need to be accountable.

IP

Seriously how hard can it be Simon? We’ve had grossly unacceptable delays in prosecuting criminals due to the backlog in the courts which unsurprisingly has impacted on victims of crime.When are you going to accept that we need at least one,preferably two additional judicial officers to deal with the current and future workload FFS?