SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15 Letter to the Governor 29 July 2016 To Her Excellency Linda Dessau AM, Governor of the State of Victoria and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia. Dear Governor, We, the judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria, have the honour of presenting our Annual Report pursuant to the provision of the Supreme Court Act 1986 with respect to the financial year 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015. Yours sincerely, Marilyn L Warren AC The Honourable Chief Justice Supreme Court of Victoria About the cover The aerial view of the Supreme Court of Victoria is produced courtesy of the Judicial College of Victoria. Photographer: Sarah Anderson Photography. Published by the Supreme Court of Victoria Melbourne, Victoria, Australia July 2016 © Supreme Court of Victoria This report is protected by copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all rights are reserved. ISSN 1839-6062 Authorised by the Supreme Court of Victoria. This report is also published on the Court’s website: www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au Enquiries: Supreme Court of Victoria 210 William Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Tel: 03 9603 6111 Email: [email protected] CONTENTS 2 3 5 17 Foreword from Foreword from the 2014–15 Significant the Chief Justice Chief Executive Officer at a glance events This report highlights the Our support areas aim to deliver Performance measurement A LiberTea, Welcome to many achievements and timely and accessible services, is integral to the Court’s Country and Anzac ceremonial challenges the Court has whilst remaining resilient to vision of judicial leadership, sitting are among this year’s faced in 2014–15. numerous challenges. self-governance and efficient significant events. operations. 23 53 77 82 Our year in review: Our year in review: Financial Appendices Court Delivery Support delivery report 2014-15 was a busy year once Seven key areas provide high Sound planning and robust Extra-curricular judicial activity again for the Court of Appeal, quality support services and procedures are central in the and contact details of Victorian Trial Division and associate functions within the Court management of the Court’s courthouses where matters judges’ jurisdictions. and the community. financial resources. are heard. 31 41 58 72 CASE STUDY: CASE STUDY: CASE STUDY: CASE STUDY: In the spotlight – Bushfire class On the way Paying tribute the Sauber case actions settle to becoming a to those through mediation paper-free court who served SUPREMESUPREME COURTCOURT OFOF VICTORIAVICTORIA 1 FOREWORD FROM THE CHIEF JUSTICE The 2014-2015 Annual Report highlights many achievements and challenges the Court has faced as we continue to operate as an extremely busy and productive institution of justice on behalf of the Victorian community. The 2014-15 Annual Report speaks for itself. However, there are four primary observations I make: 1. The Supreme Court serves the rule of law and the people of Victoria to the highest standard. 2. The Court continues to hear and determine the most complex, difficult and serious litigation in Victoria. 3. The resource needs of the Supreme Court must be met to enable it to do its work. 4. The Court has urgent resource needs: • improved technology and the implementation of a digital strategy. • adequate security to ensure the safety of all who come to and work within the Court. This is especially so given the sensitive and confidential information produced in litigation and, also, the risks arising in terrorist cases. I note this report was delayed pending the delivery and analysis of the 2016-17 State Budget. Regrettably, no direct funding was given to the Supreme Court notwithstanding the urgent technological and security needs I describe. In terms of needs I also observe that the Supreme Court building complex remains unsatisfactory. We have concepts ready for the Government to develop when the time comes. The time must come when a modern 21st century facility is provided to the highest court in the state. Fully modern, innovative, efficient and sensitive justice requires an appropriate built environment. Presently, the Supreme Court sits across six buildings in the Melbourne legal precinct of varying standard, much of them being sub-standard. I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Court Services Victoria for its generous assistance to the Supreme Court throughout the year. Finally, on behalf of the judges of the Supreme Court I express deep appreciation for the continuously loyal, generous and creative support and assistance given to us by the Court’s administrative and judicial staff. Their commitment is essential to what we do. The Hon. Marilyn L. Warren AC Chief Justice of Victoria 2 2014–15 ANNUAL REPORT FOREWORD FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER The past year celebrated the first year of operation of Court Services Victoria (CSV), enabling the Supreme Court of Victoria to continue to deliver excellence in court administration through a structure independent of the executive arm of government. Anthony Hoogeveen and Paul Dore both undertook the role of Acting Chief Executive Officer during this period, and I acknowledge not only their A GLANCE AT contribution to many of the initiatives that shaped the Supreme Court in the 12 months to 30 June 2015, but also to the operation and the development of a strong foundation between the Court and CSV. Strengthening Court Administration The 2014-15 year saw significant development in all of our registries: the formation of the Commercial Court Registry, piloting of a dedicated Criminal Division Registry team, implementation of significant changes to the Court’s Rules, practices and procedures regarding the filing and management of civil applications (including for leave to appeal) and a program of change and reform undertaken within the Principal Registry. Initiations in the Principal Registry increased by 16.4 per cent and contacts with self-represented litigants (SRLs) increased by 23 per cent. The increasingly complex nature of services required by SRLs has led to a more in-depth understanding of their requirements, which in the coming year will see a strong focus on working with legal assistance providers to identify tools, referrals and pathways to assist these potential litigants. Delivering justice through enabling technologies In total, 24,120 documents were filed electronically, a growth of 36 per cent on the previous financial year (17,700). This represents 27 per cent of all documents filed and reflects our commitment to streamlining internal workflows, aligning operations to support specialisation and related case management models and becoming truly ‘digital first’. The Commercial Court became a division of the Supreme Court on 1 September 2014. The division is supported by a highly skilled registry workforce, led by a specialist judicial registrar and utilises technology that enables a ‘digital first’ approach to all its files. In 2014-15, the Judicial ICT Project delivered a mobile computing environment (Microsoft Office 365) with secure cloud storage capability to all members of the judiciary. This was an important milestone in the Court’s digital journey and became fully operational in February 2016. SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA 3 The Courts business intelligence capacity continues to deliver a robust performance reporting framework for the Court. Improvements to data integrity and reporting, enabling the assessment of the impact of case management and procedural reforms on court resources, settlement rates, timing of settlements and trial length, assist the Court to manage its work and plan for the future. Looking forward As in previous years, our support areas succeeded in delivering timely and accessible services, within the context of increasing demand, procedural reforms and the limitations of out-of-date technology. The achievements and challenges outlined in this Annual Report highlight our commitment to continuous improvement, innovation in service delivery and accessible justice. The 2014-15 financial year has been one of innovation and improvement. I thank all staff for their contribution to the achievements of the Supreme Court in this period and look forward to continuing to support the Court in upholding the highest of standards in the administration of justice. Louise Anderson Chief Executive Officer 4 2014–15 ANNUAL REPORT SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA 2014–15 AT A GLANCE Performance measurement and management is integral to the Supreme Court of Victoria’s vision of judicial leadership, self-governance and effective and efficient operations. AT A GLANCE AT SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA 5 GLOBAL MEASURES OF COURT PERFORMANCE The Global Measures of Court Performance are a suite of core court performance measures that gauge the impact of services delivered for the community. The measures align with the values and areas of court excellence within the International Framework for Court Excellence (the framework). The Supreme Court of Victoria continued its Figure 1: Clearance rate (percentage) transition to the Global Measures of Court 120 Performance during 2014–15, 115 100 as part of the ongoing 104 102 benchmark 100% 93 implementation of the 80 framework. This year, the 60 Court has sufficient quality data associated with four of 40 the global measures to report on in this Annual Report: 20 clearance rate, case backlog, 0 on-time case processing and 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 cost per case. Clearance rate measures the number of cases the Court has finalised in a given period. It It is expected that further is expressed as a percentage of the number of cases initiated. In the period 2014–15, the data will be available next Court’s outcome for case clearances dropped marginally below its benchmark for the year to enable reporting on first time in five years. Importantly the Court continued to finalise an increasing number additional measures, such as of cases during 2014–15, and the reduction in this outcome was attributable to a 20 per court file integrity and trial cent increase in initiations in civil cases.