The Law Society of NSW has welcomed NSW Budget 2018-19 initiatives aimed at better facilitating access to justice and enhancing the delivery of legal services including:
- $7 million over four years for civil justice initiatives
- $4 million over four years for counselling for victims of child sexual and physical abuse
- An additional $12 million for Community Legal Centres over the next four years
- An additional $10 million for the Legal Aid NSW
President of The Law Society of NSW Doug Humphreys acknowledged that one of the aims of the NSW Government’s criminal justice reforms was to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system.
However, Mr Humphreys warned that longer term funding solutions were needed to address court backlogs and overflowing prison numbers.
"The Law Society is disappointed that greater funding for NSW Police has not been matched by additional resources to assist the criminal courts to cope with the downstream effects of more arrests," Mr Humphreys said.
Mr Humphreys said delays in the finalisation of matters was pushing up remand numbers and significantly contributing to growth in the overall NSW prison population.
"Delayed justice is justice denied for the victims of crime and for the accused. Some accused are waiting almost two years (716 days) from the time of arrest to the finalisation of a trial in the NSW District Court," Mr Humphreys said.
"Each remand prisoner costs around $120,000 per year which roughly equates to the cost of another much-needed teacher, paramedic or nurse. The skills of these professionals are far more useful to the community, than locking people up."
Mr Humphreys noted the allocation of $10 million for Legal Aid NSW would be determined following the completion of a review of legal aid fees.
He said the Law Society would continue to advocate for an increase in the pay rate for private practitioners undertaking legal aid work which remained at $150 an hour since 2007.
"Private practitioners will continue to walk away from legal aid work because they can no longer afford to fill the gap that core legal assistance services cannot provide," Mr Humphreys said.
---
