NSW chief justice releases rare statement of growing number of people on remand
In a rare public statement, Chief Justice Andrew Bell also sought to defend judges' bail decisions amid media scrutiny, saying the court system does its best to balance risk to the community and the interests of those accused.
Chief Justice Bell pointed to the latest Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) figures that show there were 5,732 people on remand awaiting trial.
"This figure has increased from 5,452 as at 30 March 2024 and from 4,778 five years earlier, that is to say, an increase of approximately 20 per cent over five years," he said.
In June last year, the Minns government tightened bail laws for domestic violence offenders after a string of high-profile killings of women by men known to them, meaning those accused of serious domestic violence charges now have to demonstrate why they should be given bail before it is granted.
The government also made it harder for young offenders to get bail.
The chief justice said the presumption of innocence was a "fundamental plank in our system of justice", and the denial of bail left innocent people at risk of being kept behind bars for "a considerable period of time".
"It is not possible to ensure that an accused person held in prison on remand will receive a quick trial, despite the best efforts of all concerned," he wrote.
"A person charged with a serious offence may have to wait up to three years before their trial comes on for hearing."
He said keeping an accused person behind bars was costly for taxpayers, with an annual average cost in 2024 of over $105,000 per person to keep a person in custody, totalling almost $600 million per year spent on prisoners held on remand.
Chief Justice Bell said there was also a hefty human toll.
"It also carries an irremediable cost to the not insignificant number of accused person held on remand but not subsequently convicted, or if sentenced for a shorter period than he or she has been held on remand," he said.
Chief Justice Bell said the Bail Act strives to deal with the "difficult issue" of what to do with those who have been charged but not convicted of an offence.
He said while over time it has "significantly restricted the circumstances in which bail may be granted" it does not "mandate the refusal of bail for any person".
Supreme Court justices dealt with over 3,100 bail applications last year, while magistrates in the local court system determined almost 40,000 bail applications.
The chief justice said while the act allows courts to impose "stringent conditions", he acknowledged there was no "absolute guarantee that the person granted bail will not offend whilst on bail".
"To do so involves a profound misunderstanding of the nature of the difficult and complex risk assessment which judges are required to make when hearing and determining bail applications.
"While judges' decisions are not immune from criticism, media reporting of decisions to grant bail is sometimes not informed by a full understanding or proper appreciation of the evidence before the court on the bail application."
He concludes his piece with predecessor Tom Bathurst KC's 2012 quote: "There are a few people as much in touch with the realities faced by victims, accused and convicted as are the judges of the criminal courts. They are in the thick of it every single day".
"That remains the case today," Chief Justice Bell said.
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