More cynical attacks on the judiciary
A further attack on Queensland’s Judges and Magistrates in today’s media headed “Minister and Top Cop attack judiciary” and “Courts are failing us” are sensationalised and totally misconceived.
QCCL Vice-President Terry O’Gorman said today that Police and Prosecutors have rights of appeal to the Queensland District Court for perceived inadequacies of juvenile sentences handed down by Magistrates exercising Childrens Court jurisdiction and a right of appeal to the Supreme Court against Magistrates grants of bail to juveniles.
“The fact is Police and Prosecutors rarely exercise these rights of appeal thereby allowing misconceptions to flourish that the court system as a whole is soft on juveniles”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Mr O’Gorman said that the Queensland Childrens Court Annual Reports for the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 periods show 53 and 44 Sentence appeals respectively lodged in the Queensland Childrens Court (District Court) in each of those two years.
Mr O’Gorman said that Police Minister Mark Ryan should indicate how many sentences and bail decisions made by Childrens Court Magistrates have been appealed this year by Police and Prosecutors.
“The quoted Annual Reports do not break up these appeal figures so as to allow analysis of how many of them are prosecution appeals”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Mr O’Gorman said that the Police Minister should provide these figures in order to justify his criticism that “the courts have all the tools in their toolbox. They just have to use them”.
“Further, the Police Minister should provide figures as to how many of the 13 juveniles released by Magistrate Keegan in Townsville in February this year were appealed by Police and Prosecutors”, Mr O’Gorman said.
“Media reports at the time indicated only two of the juveniles released were the subject of bail revocation appeals by Police and Prosecutors to the Supreme Court”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Mr O’Gorman said there is clearly a problem with a cohort of juveniles committing car thefts and violent crime but attacking Judges and Magistrates who cannot defend themselves publicly is a cheap and easy political stunt.
“Since Minister Ryan seeks to join Deputy Premier Steven Miles in cynical attacks on the judiciary to get himself out of a law and order fix he should provide details of how many Childrens Court Magistrate decisions this year Police Prosecutors have appealed”, Mr O’Gorman said.
“If, as I suspect, there are very few such appeals the problem lies with the Police Minister’s management of his portfolio in police not exercising their right of appeal to the higher court not with Magistrates and Judges who are there to apply the law as it currently exists and whose decisions are readily reviewable by the Queensland Childrens Court (District Court) and by the Queensland Supreme Court”, Mr O’Gorman said.