26th January 2020
The Herald-Sun reports on Sunday the 19th of January 2020 that Victoria Police are leading a push for the removal of Committal Proceedings from the Victorian Legal System.
Just shy of two years ago the Community Advocacy Alliance (CAA) published, ‘A case for the Victims’, which included the abolition of Committals amongst a raft of other initiatives to improve the lot for Victims. http://caainc.org.au/a-case-for-the-victims/ .
Our premise was that the victims have already been traumatised by the matter they are involved in, it is therefore cruel and unjust to perpetuate that cruelty by the Justice system that is ostensibly supposed to be fair.
Supported by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Victims of Crime Commissioner, this move must be applauded and pursued with vigour.
The question is, why did it take two years before the issues have shown any sign of rectifying a wrong.
It may have something to do with the criticisms of Victoria Police by the CAA. VicPol does not do criticism well.
“If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success” – Malcome X
That VicPol is taking a lead role is encouraging, but what is not so encouraging is the bloody-minded attitude of VicPol to the CAA that in part has contributed to unacceptable delays and inaction on initiatives for victims, many within the control of VicPol.
Before the ink was dry on this missive, the legal fraternity was on the attack. The old adage of, ‘never get between a lawyer and their fee’, was again to the for.
Lawyers are the one party to this issue who have a conflict of interest, and their views must be qualified by this conflict.
There was notably no reference to a ‘fair trial’ in a spirited defence of the ‘status quo’, by a lawyer on radio, so assumably the removal of Committals does not impact on fairness a cornerstone of our justice system. Much of the opposition was around the future ability of lawyers to negotiate on their client’s behalf.
That is lawyer-speak for a threat to the ‘Plea Bargaining’, a process which among other things whitewashes crimes committed on victims, justified by the argument of efficiency of Justice. Again, the victim in that debate is dismissed.
Now that there seems some sensible consideration to reform, perhaps the three parties to this push should be bought together to recommend further reforms, it would be efficient and effective.
The one group that should not be involved are the lawyers representative bodies, as they have a commercial imperative and an absolute conflict of interest.
Embracing the views of the CAA would contribute to meaningful change, four hundred years of Policing experience must count for something and the continual ‘Bloody minded’ attitude of Victoria Police towards the CAA is starting to look a little pathetic.
There are other ways to resolve this problem without removing what is regarded as a key safeguard in the criminal justice process against malicious prosecution. Perhaps the Victorian Government might consider actually bringing Victorian committals into line with most of the other jurisdictions in Australia where the prosecution has to actually establish prima facie case without the magistrate actually getting to see the whole brief of evidence before the committal actually even commences. It might also adequately resource the system so that trials don’t take years before they even start. Appropriate support for victims in another area in need of repair and improved resourcing. Consent laws in sexual assaults need a complete overhaul. And the OPP needs to actually do its job properly and not just prosecute any old brief of evidence sent to it by VicPol. All this should occur before any move to delete the important safeguard that is a properly functioning committal process.
Right now, the committal process is stacked in favour of the police and they want it to go even further in their direction. What has VicPol done in recent years to merit that level of trust? Oh, that’s right. Nothing! The RCMPI is currently showing VicPol senior management for the crooks they really are and this is being confirmed down at the Coroners Court where VicPol has been caught out numerous times shamefully hiding evidence from the other parties at the Bourke Street Massacre Inquest. For example, the report done by CIRT and the Police Association about the inadequacy of police vehicles, procedures and training.
instead of worrying about the committal process, the Andrews Government should be putting the cleaners through VicPol to try and restore both public confidence and the confidence of those hard working police on the street in their senior officers.
I note with great interest that accusers are now automatically referred to as ‘victims’, an interesting bias from the outset of any proceedings. As it is now with criminal matters of a sexual nature, the weight of evidence has swung very much in favour of the ‘victim’, making the notion of this being a ‘justice’ system quite laughable; an person accused of criminal matters of a sexual nature appears to be now guilty until they prove themselves innocent. Combine that with the changes to sentencing for sexual offences, and you now have an environment where most accused persons will challenge the charges all the way to a trial. The one small glimmer of hope that a person falsely accused of sexual offences might have, is to have that evidence tested at a committal proceeding, and hopefully not have the crippling financial costs of the matter proceeding to trial; and for the sake of expediency, the committal process is under review?