The way the courts respond to the issues created by the Covid-19 pandemic continue to be a major focus of the work done by the CBA committee. Members of the committee regularly meet with representatives from the court to discuss how to deal with the backlog. The pressures placed on barristers practising in criminal law during this time are well understood by the committee and we have sought to ensure the courts are aware of the difficulties faced by the criminal bar.

Our position regarding on-line hearings is that generally substantive hearings should be conducted in-person while procedural hearings for the time being can be conducted on-line. The courts have a similar view, but we do emphasise to the courts that the flexibility demonstrated by practitioners needs to be reciprocated. In the County Court, circuits remain a problem and we are considering ideas to raise with the court to overcome these issues.

We always need to understand how the courts are operating in practice and not just in theory so we encourage you to provide us with feedback and any suggestions for improvement.

The CBA has provided comment and submissions on 10 matters in response to requests from the VLRC, ALRC and Department of Justice and Community Safety this year; as well as attended meetings, working groups and ‘roundtables’ on specific topics – in addition to regularly meeting with Supreme, County and Magistrates Court working groups and committees. 

The CBA submissions have been filed in relation to proposed new offences and reforms to existing offences, as well as reforms to the conduct and management of matters – in areas ranging from sexual offences through to offensive behaviour and parole.  Submissions are generally prepared by CBA committee members, though we always welcome contributions from our membership.  If you are interested in preparing submissions on behalf of the CBA, please contact Alex Patton. In addition to written submissions, the CBA has been represented in a number of working groups addressing legislative and policy reform.  This year, there has been significant input by the CBA into proposed reforms to sexual offence legislation; as well as the use and reliability of forensic expert evidence in criminal matters.

David Hallowes SC