Vacating court dates due to funding cuts leads to ‘untenable situation’: organisation’s president
The Law Society Northern Territory has urged the Commonwealth and NT governments to take immediate action to ensure that Legal Aid NT and the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) can access sufficient funding, support, and resources.
In a media release, the law society stressed that such support would enable the two organisations to fulfill their key functions and deliver critical services advancing access to justice and strengthening the protection of the rule of law.
The law society expressed concern regarding Legal Aid NT’s recurring funding shortfalls. In its media release, the law society noted the current lack of new legal aid grants or extensions for litigants not in custody.
The law society expected these legal aid deficits to significantly impact those charged with criminal offences and unable to afford legal representation, as well as affect children as young as 10 years old, among other vulnerable community members.
“If critical Court dates are further vacated as a result of Legal Aid NT being unable to fund its core services, the Courts and those who work within them, including our members, face an untenable situation despite all of their ongoing commitment and efforts,” said Richard Henschke, the law society’s president, in the media release.
Henschke emphasised that the following issues could worsen if inadequate access to legal representation continues to jeopardize litigants’ fair trial rights:
Back in October 2024, the law society also asked the federal and territorial governments to act swiftly to support legal aid funding and tackle other issues currently affecting parties’ rights to legal representation and a fair trial.
“It is just not good enough that successive governments have allowed the situation at Legal Aid NT to become so bad that it has to even consider the reduction of its critical services as recently announced,” Henschke said in the prior media release. “The impact of these cuts will be felt across the whole of the criminal justice system in the Northern Territory for years to come.”
The law society’s recent media release acknowledged that there were initial improvements.
“Since this time last year, the Society has been advocating for the Northern Territory’s criminal justice system to be adequately resourced to cope with the consequences of the Government’s ‘tough on crime’ approach,” Henschke said.
In the media release, Henschke shared that the law society also called for increased resources for the courts, corrections, and the criminal justice sector, as well as higher rates for private practitioners furnishing legal aid services.
