Case management regime rolls out at ACT Supremes … Extra money and judge allocated to backlog "blitz" … This month judgment delivered in a case after 39 months cogitation … Exclusive table of long-tail reserved judgments
One of our field agents has kindly compiled a table of of ACT Supreme Court judgments delivered since July 1 last year (see below). They have all been reserved for six months or more.
It's an impressive tally.
The prize was taken by Justice Hilary Penfold, who took 39 months to hammer out her reasons for finding an accused not guilty of indecent assault in a judge alone trial.
The accused was acquitted on December 16, 2008, but the reasons arrived over three years later on February 8, 2012.
Justice Richard Refshauge: third placeJustice Penfold also managed to scoop second prize for Maher v Richardson - a delay of 36 months in providing reasons for an order allowing an appeal against conviction.
In third place was Justice Roughshagger, a comparative Speedy Gonzales, coming in at 33 months for an award of damages in a personal injury case.
There is another judgment lined-up to be delivered by the court after a rumination period of more than three years.
The court has announced a "blitz" of civil and criminal trials where cases will be case managed from April.
Margaret Sidis, a retiree from the NSW Dizzo, have been conscripted as an acting ACT Supremeo to help with the backlog blitz.
Margaret Sidis: blitz judgeShe joins acting justice John Nield, another Dizzo retiree originally dispatched to Canberra in July 2010, along with Jane Mathews from the NSW Supreme Court.
There are also a heap of additional ACT judges from the Federal Court, but they are not blitz judges
The ACT government last year allocated $670,000 to fund the blitz.
The new boy on the court, former chief magistrate John Burns, is used to sausage factory law, and gets through the work pretty smartly.
It might look bad for the local judges if any arriviste works too quickly.
Here's the worksheet…