Courts merger to put more pressure on ‘workhorse’, says Law Council

“The breadth and complexity of the issues dealt with by the courts on a daily basis have also increased, including as a result of the proper recognition afforded to the prevalence and impact of family violence.

“As it stands, the measures introduced into Parliament provide no extra funding for the chronically under-resourced court system or associated support services, which enable the court system to deal with cases more quickly.”

Attorney-General Christian Porter said the government had pumped enough money into the legal system and was now banking on structural change to cut waiting times and reduce costs for litigants.

New legislation

Under the legislation introduced to Parliament yesterday, the merged court – to be called the Federal Circuit and Family Court – will have two divisions. Division one will be a continuation of the Family Court (which has 33 judges), while division two will be a continuation of the Federal Circuit Court (67 judges). A new division of the Federal Court will be established to hear family law appeals from both courts.

Mr Porter says having a single entry point and set of rules will help move an extra 8000 cases through the system every year.

The legislation says those rules of the court will be made “solely” by the head of both courts “rather than a majority” of judges. Mr Porter said it was the “clear intention” to have one chief justice. It is likely to be the current chief judge of the FCC, Will Alstergren, given that Family Court Chief Justice John Pascoe retired in December. Justice Alstergren is already deputy chief justice of the Family Court.

The “overarching purpose” must be to resolve disputes “as quickly, inexpensively and efficiently as possible”. As occurs in other courts, a judge may order a lawyer to bear costs personally if a he/she does not comply.

The Attorney-General has met concerns that the new appeals divisions won’t have sufficient expertise to handle complex family law issues. He said it would be a requirement that appointments to both division two of the merger court and appeals division have “the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience” to deal with the kinds of matters that may come before them.

Mr Bailes said the council, the umbrella body for all state and territory legal associations, would be examining the legislation in detail and declined to comment on specific items until it had prepared a national response”.

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By: Michael Pelly