By Luke Voogt
The backlog of pending criminal trials at Geelong County Court has almost doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Independent can reveal.
Geelong County Court had 37 pending criminal trials when in-person County Court circuits were suspended in March, 2020.
The court had 64 pending criminal trials as of this Wednesday.
Local opposition MP Bev McArthur blamed state government, accusing it of mismanaging the courts during the pandemic.
“Victoria’s courts are burdened with huge backlogs due to the Victorian government’s management of the COVID-19 scenario,” the Member for Western Victoria said.
“The County Court [of Victoria] has a backlog of 1000 jury trials to be heard, with about 400 of these in regional Victoria.
“People facing more serious charges could have a two-year wait. Months could go by just to see a magistrate.
“All this is bad enough for the alleged perpetrator waiting to prove their innocence or otherwise.
“But it’s the victims of crime who suffer the greatest violation – in the crime itself – and then in the wait for justice and resolution.”
Following the suspension of in-person circuit sittings, the County Court of Victoria implemented a new process for regional matters.
Under the process, all pleas and appeals against sentences are provided with a fixed listing date upon committal or appeal lodgement.
“The majority of these matters were conducted virtually using videoconferencing software, with appearances in court permitted under limited circumstances,” a court spokesperson said.
“This has reduced the delay for these types of matters.”
Non-finalised pleas at Geelong County Court have remained level on 26 between January 27, 2020 and January 27, 2021, with 80 pleas finalised between those dates.
The Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services (Justice) shows that pending criminal matters in the Magistrates Court of Victoria have increased by 82 per cent from 2014-15 to 2019-20.
The Magistrates Court of Victoria did not provide caseload statistics on Geelong Magistrates Court in response to the Independent’s inquiries earlier in this week.
Attorney General Jaclyn Symes was contacted for comment.
