Senate recognises justice crisis, passes motion demanding court funding
The Australian Senate passed a motion in the final sitting fortnight ahead of the Federal Budget recognising the crisis faced by the Federal Circuit Court and Family Court. The motion, which passed 39 to 27, acknowledged: - Funding for the Federal Circuit Court and Family Court is inadequate;
- Inadequate resourcing of the family law system which has created a snowball effect - the
social and economic costs of which will be felt by the community for years to come.
- A clear plan for the future is needed.
Senators also voted for the tabling of the 2014 KPMG report into the funding of the federal courts, and the Ernst & Young associated costings, prior to the Senate voting on the Family Law Amendment (Parenting Management Hearings) Bill 2017. Law Council President, Morry Bailes, who has been meeting with Parliamentarians ahead of the motion, applauded the move. “On behalf of all Australians who will engage with our justice system, we urge the Government to heed the Senate’s concerns and provide our courts with the funding required to
effectively fulfil their role,” he said. Mr Bailes also said in a nation as prosperous as Australia, it was unacceptable that we are seeing families facing the prospect of being forced to wait up to three years before finalising cases involving disputes around children and property and allegations of family violence. Read more.
Law Council calls for action to address national lack of access to justice during Press Club address
Caption: Law Council immediate past-President Fiona McLeod SC, National Press Club President and moderator Sabra Lane and Law Council President Morry Bailes - image courtesy of the National Press Club.
Single, national redress scheme vital to survivor outcomes
The Law Council this week commended the ACT government for joining Victoria, NSW, and the Commonwealth in opting in to the Redress Scheme for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. The Law Council also urged the remaining governments and non-government institutions to commit to joining the Redress Scheme. The Redress Scheme will start on 1 July, subject to the passage of legislation, and offer access to psychological counselling, a direct personal response from the responsible institution and a monetary payment based on recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Read more.
LCA to respond to Review of the Family Law System Issues Paper
The Law Council is concerned about a lack of funding for the federal family courts following the release of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Issues Paper.
The paper details 47 questions for consideration, that aim to improve the family law system and marks an important milestone in the first major inquiry into the family law system in over 30 years.
The Law Council will put forward a range of suggestions to the ALRC's inquiry including: - Simplification of the laws relating to parenting disputes; and
- Amendments to require governments to only appoint people with experience in family law to become judges of the Federal Circuit Court to hear and determine family law disputes.
However, the basic lack of funding remains the primary concern. “The federal family courts require an urgent injection of resources, additional judicial officers, and staff to meet the huge and growing demand,” Law Council
President Morry Bailes said. Read more.
Espionage Bill amendments welcome, but more work required
Law Council President, Morry Bailes and LCA staff attended a hearing on the Review of the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill 2017, where the Law Council supported the proposed amendments: - changes to the secrecy offences to introduce a division between communications coming from current or former Commonwealth Officers from those of persons other than Commonwealth Officers;
- the broadening of the journalist defence;
- the tightened definition of ‘security classification’ to Secret and Top Secret classifications or equivalent classifications made by regulations; and
- the removal of strict liability for certain offences.
The LCA also emphasised the need for further improvements to be made to the Bill on a broad range of other proposed offences and is particularly concerned about the definition of ‘national security’ in the Bill - as going beyond the security and defence of Australia to include Australians political and economic relations with other countries. Read the LCA’s media release and submission.
Warning over fake inheritance emails
The Law Society of Northern Ireland is warning Australians to be vigilant following reports that scammers and fraudsters are stealing the identities of Northern Irish law firms and targeting the public with fake inheritance emails. The Law Society of Northern Ireland has been contacted by a number of Australians seeking its help after receiving emails purporting to come from solicitor firms in Northern Ireland. If you or a client receives an email suggesting in order for the recipient to secure the large sum of money they should contact a mobile number or email address and provide their contact, bank details and/or provide a deposit of money to specific account or third-party then check and double-check that it is not a scam. You can verify the
contact details of solicitor firms in Northern Ireland by contacting them using the solicitor’s directory. If it is found to be fraudulent you can report the scam to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACCC scamwatch.
Inquires and consultations: Review of the Identity-matching Services Bill 2018 and the Australian Passports Amendment (Identity-matching Services)
Bill 2018, Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. Australia’s strategy for nature 2018–2030: Australia’s biodiversity conservation strategy and action inventory, Department of the Environment and Energy. Strengthening superannuation member outcomes - December 2017, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. Implementing the OECD Hybrid Mismatch Rules, The Treasury. Review of Registry Operations and Case Management System, High Court of Australia. Guidance Note 17 - Rights issues, The Takeovers Panel. Closing the Gap, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Review processes associated with visa cancellations made on criminal grounds, Joint Standing Committee on Migration. Efficacy of current regulation of Australian migration agents, Joint Standing Committee on
Migration. Review of the family law system, Australian Law Reform Commission. Inquiry into Class Action Proceedings and Third Party Litigation Funders, Australian Law Reform Commission. Call for submissions of case studies on action underway on the environment and energy Sustainable Development Goals, Department of the Environment and Energy.
Recent submissions:
Media releases: Key Coverage: - LCA welcomes call to end court funding crisis, Lawyers Weekly, 22 March 2018.
- ALA slams Dutton’s ‘power grab’ on visa cancellations, Lawyers Weekly, 20 March 2018.
- Journos reject spy risk claim for 'flawed' law, The Australian, 19 March 2018.
- Journalists would be recruited as foreign spies if exempted from new laws, Asio warns, The Guardian, 16 March 2018.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on Sky News Live, 16 March 2018, discussing proposed laws into espionage and foreign interference.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on ABC Radio Sydney, ABC Radio Perth, ABC Radio Melbourne, ABC Radio Darwin, ABC Newscastle, 16 March 2018, discussing amendments to proposed foreign espionage laws don't go far enough.
- Tighter spy laws urged, AFR, 16 March
2018.
- Media call for spy laws rewrite, The Australian, 16 March 2018.
- Vale Bob Baxt, a giant of the sector, AFR, 16 March 2018.
- Espionage bill still threatens many despite defences for media, Law Council says, The Guardian, 16 March 2018.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on Sky News, 15 March 2018, discussing the National Press Club speech, the Justice Project Progress Report and funding of the legal sector.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on ABC Radio Melbourne, 15 March 2018, discussing Indigenous incarceration.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on 2CC Canberra, 15 March 2018 - Shaw says he was at the National Press Club yesterday and notes it was very interesting to listen to Law Council of Australia's President Morry Bailes and Past President Fiona McLeod talking about the justice state of the nation which was a prelude to a report called the 'Justice Project' that will be given to the government later this year.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on 3AW Drive with Tom Elliot, 15 March 2018 - Elliott says there is a high rate of Aboriginal incarceration in Australia, noting 27% of the prison population consists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. Bailes says the Law Council has just released a progress report into a piece of work called Justice Project and what was being told during the course of the consultation, particularly in the NT, is there is an element of racism within the justice system. He notes it's the same type of remark that was made to the Royal Commission into the Don Dale detention centre in the NT.
- Law Council of Australia identifies annual $390m deficit in justice system, The Australian, 15 March 2018.
- Law Council of Australia says there is ‘systemic racism’ in our justice
system, 3AW, 15 March 2018.
- Law Council sounds warning over racism in justice system, The Age, 15 March 2018.
- Dads reject shared parenting review, The Australian, 15 March 2018.
- Call to secure legal funds for the 'missing middle', The Australian, 15 March 2018.
- Peak law body calls out 'systemic racism', Sydney Morning Herald, 15 March 2018, (also online).
- Interview with Morry Bailes
and Fiona McLeod SC on Radio National PM, 14 March 2018, discussing the Justice Project and urgent reforms as it wants changes that would give disadvantaged people like imprisoned mothers fair justice under the legal system to see their babies.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on ABC Mid North, 14 March 2018, discussing the Justice Project.
- News segment on 2CC Canberra with Tim Shaw 14 March 2018, Shaw shares the Law Council is going to deliver a report called Justice State of the Nation. He adds the Law Council President Morry Bailes joined by Immediate Past President Fiona McLeod will report at the National Press Club today.
- News segment on Sky News, 14 March 2018, noting the Law Council of Australia has
told the National Press Club it is calling for urgent reform to the justice system to give access to the country's most disadvantaged people.
- Calls to give disadvantaged people equal access to justice, ABC online, 14 March 2018.
- Victorian traffic fines 'reprehensible', World News Australia, 14 March 2018.
- Australian lawyers urge justice for all, World News Australia, 14 March 2018.
- Child sex abuse survivors given 'unrealistic' deadline for compensation, The Guardian, 14 March 2018.
- Life on a
bridging visa, World News Australia, 14 March 2018.
- Hard questions and high hopes for ASEAN special summit in Sydney, Lawyers Weekly, 14 March 2018.
- Competition stalwart remembered for ‘extraordinary contribution’, Lawyers Weekly, 14 March 2018.
- Interview with Morry Bailes on CAAMA Radiom 12 March 2018,
discussing that the legal system must be overhauled to address areas of disadvantage in the hopes of reducing Aboriginal incarceration rates.
- Hard targets needed to end the disgrace of indigenous incarceration, InDaily, 9 March 2018, Op-ed by Morry Bailes.
Upcoming events 2018 For more events and information, visit the Law Council's event page.
AIJA defining the future of justice
What will 2050’s court system look like? Will technological advances merely create the need for new laws or do they present a threat to the rule of law? Does the legal profession still have a future? How do “lawyerbots” work? And do videolink hearings represent the future of the court system or a breakdown of the division between court and prison? These are just a few of the questions to be raised at the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration’s “Forces of Change: Defining Future Justice” conference, May 24-26, at Brisbane’s Stamford Plaza Hotel. The line-up of speakers contributing is an eclectic mix of judges, academics and tech-experts. See the program and register here.
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