LSB October 2018_Web

FROM THE EDITOR
‘Efficiency’ dividends a misnomer
MICHAEL ESPOSITO, EDITOR
Each year, representatives of the Society
attend the State Budget lock-up,
an event which gives key stakeholders a
chance to pore over the budget papers
before the treasurer makes their traditional
budget speech in Parliament.
At the end of the lock-up, most people
rush out to retrieve the electronic devices
that they reluctantly surrendered prior to
being voluntarily detained in the Playford
Adelaide’s Ballroom, while other attendees
line up in the foyer to give their two
cents on the budget in front of television
cameras and radio mics.
While the Society has avoided the
immediate soundbite reaction, we have
in recent years closely analysed the
budget and provided Members with a
summary of key measures that impact
the legal profession, as well as making a
statement to media on the pros and cons
of the budget from a legal perspective.
An overview of the budget is also in this
month’s Bulletin.
It can feel like a bit of a Groundhog Day
situation with the underwhelming reaction
to the budget sadly becoming somewhat
predictable. It can be tempting to punch
out a pre-prepared statement expressing
disappointment with the budget’s
allocation of monies to the justice system,
but we resist such an urge and perennially
hold out hope for an extra injection of
funding to important institutions of
justice.
Given the Liberal Government’s promise
to make widespread cuts to the public
sector, it was not a complete shock to see
“efficiencies” made to agencies such as
the Courts Administration Authority and
Legal Services Commission, however the
measures were still deeply disappointing
considering that these were two vital
agencies that were the opposite of bloated.
They were already under-resourced, and
the reduction in funding will have a serious
impact on access to justice.
“It can be tempting to punch out a pre-prepared
statement expressing disappointment with the
budget’s allocation of monies to the justice system,
but we resist such an urge and perennially hold out
hope for an extra injection of funding to important
institutions of justice.”
Several other smaller agencies,
such as the SA Native Title Service,
Communication Partner Service and
Sentencing Advisory Council, lost its
State funding, and there is real concern
about how these cuts will affect vulnerable
people.
It’s not all bad news. There’s more money
for solicitors to run prosecutions, which
we hope will improve the throughput of
criminal matters in the courts. There were
positive measures in the area of child
protection and justice, including money
to enable the Government to participate
in the National Redress Scheme,
extra funding for foster care, and the
establishment of an Aboriginal Children’s
Commissioner.
But it is disheartening to see our courts
be once again targeted for cuts when they
are already struggling under the strain
of backlogs and suburban and regional
court services have been discontinued or
diminished.
Despite the resourcing issues, we do
acknowledge planned upgrades to the
courts that will include three new criminal
jury courtrooms in the Sir Samuel Way
Building, the conversion of six civil
courtrooms into criminal courtrooms
in the Sir Samuel Way Building, and the
refurbishment of six civil court rooms
in the Supreme Court Building. We look
forward to the extra physical space,
combined with the introduction of a
new electronic filing system to improve
efficiency productivity in the courts.
The new Electronic Case management
System (ECMS) will be a learning
curve for practitioners, and the
Society in conjunction with the Courts
Administration Authority has been
working hard to ensure that the profession
is up to speed with the changes, with
information sessions and articles in this
publication explaining how the system and
transition process will work.
A number of practitioners have raised
concerns about delays in the approval
of grants of probate, and the Society
has relayed these concerns to the Courts
Administration Authority and has been
pushing for extra resourcing of the
registry to deal with backlogs.
The Society will host more information
sessions to address questions about
the lodgement of probate documents
that have been raised by Members.
On 17-18 October, Registrar Steve
Roder will demonstrate the process of
lodging probate documents under the
new electronic lodgement system. On 8
November, the Society will host a session
tailored to sole practitioners, practice
managers and administrative staff, which
will explain how firms, organisations and
individuals create accounts with CourtSA,
who in a firm or organisation can see and
access CourtSA documents, and who can
have an account and lodge documents,
notifications, payment and receipts.
Hop on the Law Society website to
register or find out more about these
sessions. B
October 2018 THE BULLETIN
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