Criminal Justice System For Australian Government

The Koori Court Division of the Magistrates’ Court in Victoria

Discuss about the Criminal Justice System for Australian Government.

The Koori Court Division of the Magistrates’ Court has been operating since the year 2002, in Victoria. The goal for the implementation of the Koori court was to ensure that the aboriginals get a voice and their problems are addressed (Marchetti, 2016). The Aboriginals face various criminal and societal problems and the Koori court aims to redress them. The problem that was faced by the legislation in enacting the Koori courts was to discuss whether the Division Courts have the power to deal with their problems and if they have the potential and the jurisdiction to deal with their issues and address their problems (Duncombe, 2015). There has been long standing issues between the aboriginals and the non-aboriginals and the courts try to bridge the gap between the two communities and ensure that there is peace, stability and harmony in the society. The aboriginals have been at the receiving end of the criminal justice system and they been treated negligently and with negativity by the Australian Government (Stroud, 2014). The Australian Government policies in the past have not been reactive to the problems that the aboriginals have been facing in all these years and they have not taken proactive steps to redress their issues (Bartels, Bolitho & Richards, 2015). The Koori court came into action with the help of the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement and now it has received a permanent status under the Victorian law to operate as a court under the jurisdiction of the Magistrate. This setting up of the Koori Court has drawn the attention of the legal fraternity and they have been very positive that the criminal system is making progressive steps to ensure that the problems of the aboriginals are resolved and they do not have to face any humiliation of trauma at the behest of the government policies. The Koori Courts are an innovative step to change the way the aboriginals have been treated over the years (Marchetti, 2017). The Victorian Magistrate’s Court was established with the help of the Magistrates’ Court(Koori Court) Act, 2002.

Of the history is to be traced as to why the Koori court came into operation, it can be stated that there was a need for indigenous participation in the justice system and there was a need for indigenous people to participate in the sentencing system (Johnson & Sarra, 2015). This sentencing system started in the late 1990s and it gained momentum in the remote areas of Australia where the aboriginals decided that they needed more participation. In the late 1990s, the indigenous participation started to become legalized and this was seen to be applied in the urban areas. The indigenous system and Circle Courts started gaining popularity in the urban areas. This was done with the aim of ensuring that the trust of the aboriginals is restored in the judiciary. Due to the historical differences, the local and indigenous communities had started losing trust on the justice system because they were discriminated against and their voice was not heard and their problems were not redressed (Marchetti, 2016). As a result of long years of consultation with the local community groups, it was finally decided that there was a need for indigenous courts specifically to address the issues of the local communities. The Koori Court established in Victoria came as a result of that consultation. The other reason for implementation of local courts is to reduce the number of criminals in Australia who are mostly aboriginals. The survey conducted across the Australian courts show that there is more aboriginal prisoners in courts than non aboriginals. The reason for this over -population is because they are not widely represented and they are made to live in the courts without any option of being represented by an legal professional in the courts (Southward, 2015).

History of Koori Court

There are different courts for the elderly as well as courts dedicated to hear the problems of the children. The courts came as a result of the need to make sure that the elders and the children are not discriminated and treated differently (Hassing & Mortimer, 2017). The goal of the Koori courts is to increase3 the participation of indigenous people in the justice system. There needs to be a growth in the Koori ownership in the conduct and administration of law. There needs to be serious accountability of the offenders of Koori and therefore the courts ensure that there is an increase in the accountability of the families and children of the Koori community (Murphy, 2016). The Koori offenders need to be participated and represented and therefore the law also makes sure that they participate positively. Though the courts have given out orders in the favour of the Koori offenders but they are mostly breached and therefore to stop the breached orders, there was need to set up Koori Courts (Toki, 2018). The aboriginals are rich in culture and to promote the culture of the aboriginals and to make sure that the harmony and stability the community is maintained and their rights are preserved these courts have been established. The aboriginals fear to appear in courts and therefore, the court ensures that they do not deter from appearing in courts and also promotes the concept of rehabilitation wherein it is believed that the koori court will ensure that the offenders do not re offend and again act in violation of the laws.

The atmosphere inside a Koori court is not like any other traditional court and their mode of conduct and operation are different from the existing traditional courts which follow proper code of conduct.  The Koori Courts are very informal and they do not work like traditional courts. In the Koori Courts, the Magistrate is placed at a large table and around him is the other participants and they do not sit at the benches (Bartels, 2015). Unlike traditional courts, where the defendant is placed at the dock, in the Koori Courts, the defendant sits with his or her family at the table. There is no need to use legal and formal language in the Koori Courts and the language of the Koori Court is plain English and no formal English language which are seen in court orders. The aboriginals feel that they are alienated from the other communities. They feel that the justice system does not give them enough importance and that is why they are differentially treated. The Victorian Justice Agreement was an agreement that was agreed between the state Government and the Victorian koori community. Any defendant who has shown remorse and has claimed that he is ready to take actions to redeem himself of the crimes he has committed, shall be made eligible. Therefore, the koori defendants who plead guilty to any offence and have shown their interest to change themselves and also take any responsibility to change themselves shall be eligible to be heard the Koori Court. To be heard in a Koori Court, it is important that the person is living within the area of the Koori Court or the person was charged within the territory of the Koori Court. The Koori Court ahs the jurisdiction to hear all cases but they are not empowered to hear cases related to sexual offences or cases of family violence. Other than these two mentioned above, the Koori Court has the power to hear all cases that the Magistrate Court hears and passes orders. In cases of traditional Courts, magistrates are empowered to hear cases as they are professionally adept at it, whereas in cases of Koori Court, elderly people or respected person in the Koori Community hear cases and they give advices in relation to any conflict in cultural matters. Therefore, the aim of the Koori community is to preserve and uphold the cultural matters. The Magistrate in a Koori Court has the power to pass orders which are binding in the local community but their orders are directed towards giving orders that have a culture importance and the orders need to be culturally sound and appropriate for the Aboriginal offenders. This will increase the number of Koori offenders participating in the community and will also eliminate or reduce the chance of re offending by the Koori Community. This increases and enhances positive participation of the people of the Koori community. This does not have an impact only on the Koori community but also on the wider community and the people are benefitted by the orders of the koori community. The traditional courts have always discriminated the aboriginals and the process of fair hearing was eliminated but with the set up of the Koori Court it came to be known that there was fluidity in the legal system and that the magistrate had the power to make laws and procedures to meet the cultural needs of the community. The aboriginals have long faced human rights issues and they were robbed off their rights and recognition under the legal system of Australia. In the Koori Court, along with the Magistrate sits two elderly people and two respectable people of the community. This is to garner more support from the Koori community so that they feel safe and they do not feel that they are marginalized and that they will not be treated fairly (Cunneen & Porter, 2017). The Koori Court carries out a very unique method of justice delivery to enhance community participation and also justice delivery. There is a lining therapeutic approach the Court follows in implementing justice. There is a reason why there is no formality in the court because that will help to reduce the tension within the courtroom and also will encourage more participation from the community. The offender will free to open up and also not feel threatened or intimidated. The opinions of the elderly are taken into account and this is done with the aim of restoring the faith of the aboriginals in the justice system.

Role of Koori Courts in increasing participation of indigenous people in the justice system

The Koori community tries to bridge the gap between the Koori Community and the justice system and their aim is to increase the participating of the Koori community in the justice delivery system. The law aims to use imprisonment as a sanction that should be utilized as a last resort mean to garner more support of the Koori community. They have been sidelined and marginalized for the longest time and it is time for the Australian justice system to make sure that they do not feel the same anymore. Therefore, apart from following an informal method of justice delivery, it is pertinent to keep in mind that the Koori Community needs to be largely represented and their voice needs to be heard to follow a fair justice delivery system. the aims of the Court is to also ensure that there is better awareness in the community and the aboriginals are made aware of their social and legal rights so that they do not feel that their rights and culture are not incorporated by the legal system in Australia. Therefore, through this process, there is an infusion of culture and rights in the legal arena so that culture and justice can exist side by side with harmony. To address power imbalance within the community, it shall be ensured that rights are recognized through legal process. The Courts shall incorporate all norms that are not opposed to tradition and shall also put forward a pluralistic view of justice delivery. There needs to be an assimilation of the traditions of the aboriginals and it is a soft way to deal with crime that the aboriginals have been accused of. To promote equality and harmony and to ensure that their voices are heard and there is a fair justice delivery, the aboriginals need to be treated with care and concern and their crimes should be dealt with softly. The punishment should be milder and shall not be harsh and strict. The aim is to understand the problems of the aboriginals and resolve them with compassion. To go soft on crime does not mean their crimes will be ignored, but it means that the punishment should not be like traditional courts but milder in nature.

References

Bartels, L. (2015). Indigenous-specific court initiatives to support Indigenous defendants, victims and witnesses. Browser Download This Paper.

Bartels, L., Bolitho, J., & Richards, K. (2015). Indigenous young people and the NSW children’s court: Magistrates’ perceptions of the court’s criminal jurisdiction. AILR, 19, 34.

Cunneen, C., & Porter, A. (2017). Indigenous Peoples and Criminal Justice in Australia. In The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice(pp. 667-682). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Duncombe, S. (2015). NSW youth koori court pilot program commences. Judicial Officers Bulletin, 27(2), 11.

Hassing, C., & Mortimer, D. (2017). Reflections on 25yrs of native title: An interview with justice Debra Mortimer. Native Title Newsletter, (2), 7.

Johnson, S., & Sarra, S. (2015). INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS THERAPEUTIC JURISPRUDENCE. www. indigenousdevelopment2014. ac. nz, 66.

Marchetti, E. (2016). Indigenous sentencing courts.

Marchetti, E. (2016). Nothing Works: A Meta-Review of Indigenous Sentencing Court Evaluations. Current Issues Crim. Just., 28, 257.

Marchetti, E. (2017). Indigenous Sentencing Courts in Australia. In The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice (pp. 379-392). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Murphy, J. R. (2016). Specialist courts for sentencing aboriginal offenders: Aboriginal courts in Australia [Book Review]. Indigenous Law Bulletin, 8(25), 22.

Southward, J. (2015). Professional development: A day in the life of… Magistrate Sue Duncombe. LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal, (15), 50.

Stroud, N. (2014). Accommodating language difference: A collaborative approach to justice in the Koori Court of Victoria.

Toki, V. (2018). Indigenous Courts, Self-Determination and Criminal Justice. Routledge.