The Land and Environment Court of NSW Annual Review 2009 1 Contents 01 Foreword from Chief Judge 26 5. Court Performance 02 1. 2009: An Overview ❚ Overall caseload ❚ Court performance ❚ Court performance by class of jurisdiction ❚ Reforms and developments ❚ Measuring Court performance ❚ Education and community ❚ Output indicators of access to involvement justice ❚ Consultation with court users • Affordability 06 2. Court Profi le • Accessibility ❚ The Court • Responsiveness to the needs ❚ Statement of purpose of users ❚ The Court’s jurisdiction ❚ Output indicators of ❚ The Court’s place in the court effectiveness and effi ciency system • Backlog indicator • Delivery of reserved judgments ❚ Who makes the decisions? • Clearance rate • The Judges • Attendance indicator • The Commissioners ❚ Appeals • The Registrars ❚ Complaints ❚ Appointments and retirements • Complaints received and ❚ Supporting the Court: the fi nalised Registry • Patterns in complaints 14 3. Casefl ow Management 49 6. Education and Community ❚ Introduction Involvement ❚ Overview by class of jurisdiction ❚ Continuing professional ❚ Types of directions hearings development ❚ Class 1 hearing options • Continuing professional ❚ Alternative Dispute Resolution development policy • Conciliation • Annual Court conference • Mediation • Twilight seminar series • Neutral evaluation • National Mediator Accreditation • 360 degree feedback program 21 4. Reforms and Developments • Other educational activities ❚ Mining jurisdiction ❚ Performance indicators and ❚ Transfer of civil proceedings program evaluation between courts ❚ Education and participation in ❚ Amendments to Court rules the community ❚ International Framework for ❚ Individual Judges’ and Court Excellence Commissioners’ activities ❚ Sentencing database for environmental offences 74 Appendix 1 – Court Users Group 76 Appendix 2 – Court Committees LEC Annual Review 2009 2 Foreword From Chief Judge This Review provides information on litigation in the Court, its human resources and its the Court, the performance in the year under review. The accessibility of focus is on court administration, in particular the Court and the The Hon. Justice Brian J Preston, Chief Judge on the Court’s management of its caseload. responsiveness Photo by Ted Sealey The objectives of court administration are of the Court to equity, effectiveness and effi ciency. The the needs of users. Review analyses the ways in and the extent But even the inclusion of these qualitative to which the Court has achieved these indicators still leaves unevaluated the Court’s objectives in the year under review. material contribution to the community Traditionally, court administration represented by the large volume of decisions performance is evaluated by quantitative made. The Court produced 655 substantive output indicators based on the registrations written judgments. These judgments are (fi lings), fi nalisations, pending caseload and published on the Court’s website time taken between fi ling and fi nalisation. www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lec and elsewhere. Prior to 2006, the Court’s Annual Reviews They provide a valuable contribution to had focused solely on these performance planning and environmental jurisprudence. indicators. This year’s Review continues They also enable transparency and the practice adopted in the last three years’ accountability in the Court’s decision- Annual Reviews of reporting on an expanded making. range of quantitative performance indicators. Throughout the year, the Judges, Reference to these quantitative performance Commissioners and Registrars of the Court indicators reveals that the Court has been have administered the Court and the rule successful in achieving the objectives of of law with a high degree of independence, equity, effectiveness and effi ciency. impartiality, integrity, equity, effectiveness and However, these quantitative performance effi ciency. indicators do not give a full picture of the The Honourable Justice Brian J Preston Court’s performance. There are other Chief Judge qualitative indicators that assist in gaining an appreciation of the Court’s performance. This year’s Review again includes qualitative output indicators of access to justice, including in relation to the affordability of 1 1 2009: An Overview ❚ Court performance ❚ Reforms and developments ❚ Education and community involvement ❚ Consultation with court users LEC Annual Review 2009 2 Court performance Reforms and developments The Court has an overriding duty to ensure Legislation was passed in 2008 to give the the just, quick and cheap resolution of the Court jurisdiction to hear and dispose of real issues in all civil proceedings in the proceedings under the Mining Act 1992 Court. In most areas of its work, the Court and the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991. has been able to improve its performance in Civil proceedings are dealt with in a new achieving this overriding objective relative to class of jurisdiction, Class 8, whilst criminal the results achieved in 2007 and 2008. proceedings are dealt with in Class 5 of the Court’s jurisdiction. These proceedings Of particular signifi cance are: were formerly dealt with by the Mining ❚ A decrease in the number of matters Wardens’ Courts which were abolished pending in the Court, to its lowest level in by the legislation. Although the legislation the last fi ve years; was assented to on 8 December 2008, ❚ Maintenance of productivity, as evidenced the changes did not take effect until 7 April by the total clearance rate for all matters 2009. exceeding 100%; To implement this new jurisdiction, the ❚ Improvements in all but two classes of the Court held stakeholder meetings in Sydney Court’s jurisdiction in the timeliness of the and Lightning Ridge, established and held caseload, as measured by the backlog meetings of a specialist Mining Court Users indicator; Group, and established special webpages on the Court’s website on the mining ❚ A decrease in the time taken for jurisdiction. fi nalisation of merits review appeals in Class 1; The Civil Procedure Amendment (Transfer of Proceedings) Act 2009 amended the ❚ Maintenance of the high percentage of Civil Procedure Act 2005 to enlarge the reserved judgments delivered within 90 power of the Supreme Court and the Land days; and and Environment Court to transfer civil ❚ Maintenance of the high level of use of proceedings to the other court where it is alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, more appropriate for the proceedings to be particularly conciliation, as evidenced heard in the other court. by the increased percentage of matters The Land and Environment Court Rules fi nalised by conciliation conferences or on- 2007 were amended so as to extend to all site hearings. civil proceedings in Classes 1-4 and 8 of Chapter 5 Court Performance outlines the the Court’s jurisdiction neutral evaluation indicators, both quantitative and qualitative, and Part 55 of the Supreme Court Rules for measuring the Court’s performance regarding contempt. and presents a detailed analysis of the The Court has a reputation for innovation results achieved. These measures include in court administration and implementing information with respect to the Court’s successful initiatives in performance criminal jurisdiction. improvement. Building upon these innovations and initiatives the Court became the fi rst court in the world to adopt and 3 implement the International Framework for Education and community Court Excellence. The Framework is derived involvement from the collected experience of courts in Australasia, Canada, the USA, Singapore The Court’s commitment to continuing and Europe as a management improvement professional development was manifested methodology. The Court assessed its by the adoption in October 2008 of a performance by reference to internationally continuing professional development policy recognised court values and to seven for Judges and Commissioners of the Court. generic areas of court excellence: The policy sets a standard of fi ve days (30 hours) of professional development activities 1. court leadership and management each calendar year. To assist in meeting 2. court planning and policies the standard, the Court and the Judicial 3. court proceedings Commission of New South Wales provide an annual court conference and a twilight 4. public trust and confi dence seminar series. The twilight seminar series 5. user satisfaction commenced in November 2008, with 6 seminars being held in 2009. 6. court resources The Court commenced publication on 7. affordable and accessible court services. a quarterly basis of a judicial newsletter After assessing its performance, the Court summarising recent legislation and judicial developed a comprehensive program decisions of relevance to the Court’s of action to improve its performance in jurisdiction. In 2009, the judicial newsletter each of these areas of court excellence. was distributed to all Judges, full-time and Through 2009, the Court has commenced Acting Commissioners and Registrars. the process of implementing the identifi ed The Judges and Commissioners updated actions. and developed their skills and knowledge One of the measures taken by the Court in during the year by attending conferences, implementing the Framework is to adopt seminars and workshops. Some of and publicise a statement of purpose. The the educational activities were tailored statement of purpose of the Court is set out specifi cally to the Court’s needs while others in Chapter 2 Court Profi le. targeted the national and international legal community.