Changes to operations at the Ballarat law courts due to the coronavirus outbreak have lead to disruptions to court users, defence lawyers and the authorities.
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The Ballarat Magistrates' Court has almost shut down to reduce the number of people entering the building in order to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Police prosecutors, court program co-ordinators, Corrections Victoria officers and defence lawyers have stopped all face-to-face contact with court users.
The court continues to hear urgent matters including bail, remand and family violence applications and breaches, and plea hearings where the accused is in custody. Most matters are being heard via video link.
The court plans to return to normal operations later in the year.
All summary and bail matters (the accused person is the community) have been adjourned to June 15, while accused persons in the committal stream will not face court for a significant period of time.
Ballarat defence lawyers have noticed a significant decrease in work since the changes were implemented two weeks ago.
Buscombe & Madden Lawyers senior criminal lawyer Andrew Madden said the court-based practice had stood down some employees indefinitely.
He said this, and the uncertainty of knowing when things would return to normal, were challenging for his practice.
"We are a court-based practice. We will have to think laterally to generate new sources of income within our practice areas," Mr Madden said.
Ballarat senior criminal lawyer Scott Belcher said his comparative March 2019 and 2020 figures had more than halved.
"The courts deferred two weeks of privately funded work in the second half of March 2020. If it went ahead, my 2020 figure would beat my 2019 figure," Mr Belcher said.
"I expect the comparative April figures to show a 90 per cent reduction in fees as the privately funded court work is deferred to beyond July 2020."
Mr Belcher said he held grave concern for newly created, or less well established criminal law practices, with significant debt, and other overheads.
"Most small businesses will weather a six-month health and economic storm with federal and state government support, but maybe not a 12 month direct hit".
Mr Madden said he was concerned the operational changes would create an enormous backlog of matters when they are eventually dealt with.
"I personally hope the court (being the Magistrates' Court predominantly) is actively investigating alternative methods of dealing with matters, such as establishing 'virtual courts' or similar," he said.
"Some creative thinking will need to be put into practice to solve a looming crisis when things do get back to 'normal'.
"We should be able to use available technology to link all the relevant parties to a proceeding, particularly when they are simple matters. If it happens, that may be one good thing to come out of this disaster."
Due to restrictions of face-to-face contact, the lawyers have been conducting conferences with their clients via telephone or online apps.
Mr Belcher said this was working well and was efficient but face to face meetings ascertained the veracity of his client's instructions.
A defence lawyer appearing at the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates' Court on Friday said there had been delays in organising telephone conferences to her clients who were in prison.
Lawyers representing Creswick manslaughter accused Shane Lucas said on Thursday they had been unable to take instructions from their client, who is on remand, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The matter was adjourned for almost two months to allow enough time for Lucas' lawyers to view material and then speak to him via video link or telephone.
A sentence hearing at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Friday was cut short because a video link to a Melbourne prison automatically ended and another link could not be arranged.
The magistrate told another man in custody on Friday he would not be able to return to court until June 29.
"I don't want to sound rude, but that is what is happening due to coronavirus," magistrate Ron Saines said.
Court staff faced a challenge this week when an accused person, who was remanded in a Ballarat police cell, complained of flu-like symptoms. He wanted to apply for bail but it was decided not to bring him into the court room.
The 27-year-old man's bail application was postponed to Thursday but a Melbourne Assessment Prison custody officer told the court by video link the man was in quarantine at the prison after he was transferred from a Ballarat isolation police cell.
He said all new prisoners had to isolate for 14 days and could be moved to another prison within three to four days. The man's bail application was adjourned for two weeks.
Victoria Police prosecution division have notified court users face-to-face summary case conferencing has been suspended in all courts until further notice due to COVID-19.
"Summary case conferencing can still take place via telephone or email, while a prosecutor is on standby in the police station to undertake conferencing via telephone for matters listed at court today," a Victoria Police notice says.
Corrections Victoria officers have stopped assessing accused persons for community corrections orders face-to-face at the Ballarat law courts and only attend court if they are prosecuting.
Likewise, Court Integrated Services Program officers have changed the way they conduct interviews with accused persons.
A Magistrates' Court spokesperson said staff were working with stakeholders to ensure access to justice was maintained during these unprecedented times.
The County Court has not sat in Ballarat this week, despite two judges allocated to the Ballarat circuit. The County and Supreme courts have suspended jury trials for at least six months.
"The court is dealing with our most challenging crisis in recent memory by using technology to keep operations going, wherever possible, while protecting the health and safety of Court users," County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd said.
The County Court will provide an update on its conduct of circuit operations next week.
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