Premier must justify her attack on the judiciary

Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk’s attack on Queensland’s Courts by accusing Judges and Magistrates of being too lenient with repeat juvenile offenders is a serious and unjustified slur by the Premier (a lawyer) on a branch of government which cannot defend itself against public attacks.

QCCL Vice-President Terry O’Gorman said that as a lawyer the Premier knows full well that the judiciary are required to stay out of political debates and controversies and yet like former Premier Campbell Newman she is now resorting to attacking the Courts for her own short term political gain.

“It is reported today that 18 months on from Police Minister Mark Ryan’s announcement that 16 and 17 year olds will be forced to wear GPS devices as a condition of bail that the bail tracking devices have been fitted to only 8 youths – and not the high-risk offenders initially set to be targeted”, Mr O’Gorman said (see Courier Mail Friday 30 December 2022 page 7 “How the government has toughened its stance on young crims”).

“And where is the Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, the Minister charged with defending the judiciary from public attacks from her boss, the Premier”, Mr O’Gorman asked.

“Nowhere to be seen or heard”, Mr O’Gorman said.

Mr O’Gorman challenged the Premier to produce facts and figures to justify her attack on the judiciary that they are too soft in sentencing juveniles.

“The Premier has a very large group of media advisers who can readily and quickly release facts and figures, if they exist, to justify her attack on the judiciary”, Mr O’Gorman said.

Mr O’Gorman said that some of the questions the Premier should be forced to answer to justify her attack on the judiciary (if she can) are:

-       How many appeals have Police Prosecutors run up to the Appeal Court against supposedly lenient bail and sentencing decisions;

-       What extra budgetary allocation has been given to Prosecutors to enable them to run such appeals;

-       Why haven’t the guideline judgment provisions of the Queensland Penalties and Sentencing Act been used by the Premier and the Police Minister to ask the Appeal Court to remedy supposedly soft sentences by Magistrates.

“There are 12 sections of the Queensland Penalties and Sentences Act which have been in the Act for decades which allows the Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions to apply to the Appeal Court for a guideline judgment if the Premier is so dissatisfied with supposed weak sentencing decisions concerning juveniles in the Children’s Court”, Mr O’Gorman said.

Mr O’Gorman said that not once over the whole time the government has been in power has there been any attempt to use the authority of the Appeal Court to challenge so called soft sentencing decisions by using the sentencing guideline provisions of the Penalties and Sentences Act.

“The Premier is seriously abrogating her leadership responsibilities by attacking the Courts without producing any evidence that the Courts are soft.  She is just another politician willing to take a cheap shot at the Court to get herself out of a political problem”, Mr O’Gorman said.