Magistrates Court- Annual Report 2005-2006- Our Regions
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OUR REGIONS Northern Region NORTHERN REGION The Queensland Magistrates Court’s Northern Region covers an area which sweeps from Ayr on the coral coast, westward to the Northern Territory border, then north across the Gulf of Carpenteria and Cape York Peninsula to the many islands that dot the Torres Strait. Combine the azure and emerald of the reef and rainforests with the grey-greens of the savannah wilderness, of the western tableland and gulf shores with the rich ochre reds and browns of the far west and you have the kaleidoscope that is Northern Queensland. The region is home to two World Heritage Listed areas—the Wet Tropics Coastline from Cooktown to Townsville and the Great Barrier Reef. The communities and lifestyles within Thursday Island our region are as diverse as its landscape. Throughout the region, 16 magistrates Weipa administer justice to over 33 communities from the following major court centres: Cairns 6 magistrates Cooktown Mossman Innisfail 1 magistrate Cairns Mareeba Atherton Normanton Innisfail Mareeba 1 magistrate Tully Georgetown Mount Isa 1 magistrate Ingham Palm Island NORTHERN REGION Townsville Ayr Townsville 6 magistrates Charters Towers Mount Isa Julia Creek Cloncurry Richmond Northern Relieving Hughenden Magistrate (based in Cairns) 1 magistrate Cairns Table 11: The jurisdiction of the court based in Cairns Cairns Magistrates Court 2005–06 extends from Trinity Inlet in the south and stretches along the east and western shores Jurisdiction totals of Cape York to Thursday Island and Badu Island in the Torres Strait. Criminal Defendants 10 216 Childrens Court Defendants 475 With a population of over 124 000 residents in Cairns, a constant and heavy stream of Domestic Violence Applications 967 visitors from overseas and around Australia, Civil Claims 687 and over 80 000 vehicles registered in the city, the main components of our court work Minor Debt Claims 479 here is set out in Table 11. Small Claims 725 102 Queensland Magistrates Courts Our regions This year, with an increase in the number Cairns circuit courts and Indigenous of magistrates from fi ve to six in the communities previous fi nancial year, we have been able Throughout the year, with the assistance to provide a second magistrate to help with of our Cairns-based Northern Relieving the continued growth of the daily workload Magistrate, we convened circuit courts at the of the Arrest Court. The implementation of centres detailed in Table 12. a summary hearing mention procedure has improved the daily listing of matters and Table 12: the effective use of court time. At 30 June Circuit calendar Cairns 2005–06 2006, hearing dates could be offered within Distance nine weeks of notifi cation that a matter will Circuit Frequency from Cairns proceed to trial. Aurukun Monthly 796km The court in Cairns is now the main centre Badu Island Quarterly 832km that handles reportable deaths for the region. There has been an increase in the volume of Bamaga Monthly 920km coronial work. Coen Bi-monthly 550km Three magistrates have been trained and Cooktown Monthly 322km appointed to convene the Drug Court which sits twice weekly. The work of this Kowanyama Monthly 604km court is effective and rewarding; however, Lockhart River Monthly 755km the intensive teamwork required for its Pormpuraaw Monthly 673km successful operation takes a considerable proportion of the presiding magistrate’s time Thursday Island Monthly 782km each week. Weipa Monthly 801km The Court Alcohol Remand and Rehabilitation Program (CARRP) is used by The Queensland Magistrates Court Cairns magistrates as a sentencing option endeavours to provide access to justice to and continues to be a successful diversion people in their local community. Most of the program. This program has been described in Cairns circuit centres bring our magistrates detail in pervious annual reports. into close contact with Indigenous Australians and the magistrates have This year, the Cairns courthouse acquired developed an intense interest in Indigenous a videoconference link with the Lotus culture and Indigenous justice issues. Glen Correctional Centre which is used on a weekly basis for the hearing of bail Our circuit work has become busier each applications, hand-up committal hearings, year with an increase in juvenile and public and pleas of guilty to minor offences. nuisance type offending. Petrol sniffi ng, This facility has been well received by all despite the best efforts of community stakeholders including prisoners who are leaders, continues to affect many young no longer transported from Mareeba to the people. There has also been an increase courthouse at Cairns. Apart from improved in child protection issues. Although, security for the public, a substantial because statistics are currently based on fi nancial saving has resulted as fewer the place where the application is fi led, prisoner transfers mean fewer police escorts and this is generally Cairns, it is diffi cult to demonstrate this in statistical terms. and watch house staff are needed. However, we are pleased to report that there appears to have been a reduction in serious violent offences since the introduction of the local Alcohol Management Plan. Annual Report 2005—2006 103 The court facilities at most other circuit centres are adequate; however, those at Lockhart River and Aurukun urgently need upgrading. In both of these centres, the Magistrates Court is required to sit within the confi nes of the local police station—a situation not in keeping with the perception of the independence essential for a magistrate to carry out judicial duties. Access to our circuits is affected by weather and road conditions. This year, in March and April, the advent of cyclones Larry and Monica caused several of our circuits Gathering of Cairns Magistrates—November 2005 to be abandoned. With the cooperation of (back l–r) Magistrates Spencer, Previtera and Braes the Cairns Police Prosecution Corps, the (front l–r) Magistrates, Dwyer, Black and Kluck Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Legal Service and the region’s court registry staff, three of our magistrates conducted longer At the beginning of the year, circuits in May and June to clear the backlog the workload at Cooktown required the of court matters caused by the cyclonic circuiting magistrate to preside there for disruptions. up to three days, sitting regularly from 7.30am to 8pm. The workload has now With the appointment of a Regional Services settled and it seems likely that the monthly Manager to our court this year, transport three-day sittings may be reduced to one problems have been greatly alleviated, or two days. When in Cooktown, the particularly those involving air charters, circuiting magistrates have often taken the and are more cost and time effi cient. The opportunity to visit the communities of Cairns magistracy particularly welcomes the Hopevale and Wujul Wujul where strong opportunity to have court support service Community Justice Groups have been representatives included on remote circuit formed. The magistrates have been working visits. The presence of representatives with these groups to establish protocols for such as Youth Justice Offi cers from the preparing and presenting reports to the court Department of Communities, and Community on offenders from their community. Their Corrections Offi cers from the Department of reports are extremely helpful to magistrates convening courts in remote Indigenous Corrective Services and, on occasion, offi cers communities. from the Department of Child Safety at these circuits, greatly helps the court to ensure that During the fi rst full year in the new the court orders made can be meaningfully courthouse on Thursday Island, the undertaken within each community. videoconferencing facilities have been used to allow magistrates to accept pleas and hear It is inevitable that more time and resources applications from defendants living on the will need to be devoted to Cape York in outer islands of the Torres Straits. Despite the the future. The court is also looking at cost not unexpected teething problems in having effi cient strategies for diverting the court the technology work consistently, it will be from one circuit centre to another as the used more frequently, to reduce considerably workloads at the various centres dictate. To the costs and dangers experienced by improve cost effi ciency, Bamaga is being defendants from remote islands travelling considered for inclusion in the Thursday either by air or in open dinghies to the Island circuit rather than the Cape York courthouse on Thursday Island. circuit. 104 Queensland Magistrates Courts Our regions Magistrates in Cairns continue to interact positively with the community. They are actively involved with the staff and students of the James Cook University School of Law, with some students assigned to magistrates this year for work experience. In the near future, we hope that a formal work experience program can be developed to enable law students to work with magistrates in a voluntary capacity for the mutual benefi t of both the courts and the students. Throughout the year, the Cairns’ magistrates have regularly been involved, as adjudicators, in moot competitions conducted by schools and colleges. One magistrate sits Magistrate Braes holding court at the Mt Garnett as a member of judiciary tribunals for Rugby Community Hall. League and Touch Football Associations. Magistrates have also given presentations at local and interstate conferences and provided in-service training on justice issues to The Court is convened in dedicated government agencies. courthouses at Mareeba, Atherton and Mossman, and uses the Queensland Mareeba Government Agency Offi ce at Georgetown During the year, Cairns Magistrate Braes, and the Community Hall at Mt Garnett for replaced Magistrate Lock as resident court. During the year, the Attorney-General magistrate at Mareeba. No one was more announced that a new courthouse will be delighted with this than Magistrate Braes, built at Mareeba. who, prior to his appointment had been a long term resident of Mareeba.