I am pleased to announce the appointment of four acting judges to the Supreme Court to commence immediately for two-year terms.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to ensuring that all Tasmanians have access to an efficient and effective criminal and civil justice system and these appointments will assist in addressing any backlog of cases in the Supreme Court.
The acting judges are the Hon Shane Marshall, the Hon Brian Martin AO QC, the Hon David Porter QC and the Hon Lautalatoa Pierre Slicer.
These appointments come following the passage of the Supreme Court Amendment (Judges) Bill last year to enable the appointment of part-time acting judges to be remunerated on a part-time basis.
This is one of many initiatives being implemented to reduce the case backlog, and it was welcoming to note in the latest Report on Government Services that the backlog indicator has stabilised for both Criminal and Civil jurisdictions of the Supreme Court.
However, there is always more to be done, which is why I am continuing to work constructively with both the Chief Justice and Chief Magistrate of the Supreme Court and Magistrates Court to address timeliness issues in the Tasmanian judicial system.