29/11/2024
๐จ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฆ๐ช ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐
The NSW Local Court is modernising! Under proposed amendments to the Local Court Act 2007, Local Court magistrates will now be known as judges, reflecting the seriousness, volume, and complexity of their work.
โ๏ธ The Local Court is the busiest in Australia, with over 90% of judicial decisions in NSW made in this jurisdiction.
โ๏ธ In 2023, 376,160 criminal matters were commenced - a 39.7% increase since 2012 - along with 64,904 civil matters, a 25.4% increase from 2022.
โ๏ธ This change brings NSW in line with modern terminology used internationally and better highlights the vital role these judicial officers play.
OAM Magistrate Michael Holmes of Armidale NSW shared his thoughts on this historic change:
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ '๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ,' ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ."
For more details, visit the Attorney General's announcement.