A.2 Overview

The year was defined by the record numbers of Supreme Court trials, sentences, and appeals conducted by the Office.

It was not just the number of matters. Some very significant and complex matters were prosecuted – all by in-house counsel.

The office continued to be engaged in discussions concerning case management in the Supreme Court, and listing practices in the Magistrates Court. In the Supreme Court the implementation of the docket system brought about a transparent allocation of work between judges: the challenge now is to institute a case management system to support the allocation. In the Magistrates Court, progress towards a separate bail list, and abolition of case management hearings, has been frustratingly slow.

Recently enacted special measures in relation to the prosecution of sexual offences are now fully in operation. This has greatly increased the number of instances of evidence of complainants being given in pre trial hearings, and has also increased the number of pre trial applications.

The year also saw the making of a number of tendency applications by the prosecution, particularly in sexual offence cases.

The year saw a consolidation of the paralegal professional development package and an enhanced contribution by paralegals to the litigation effort of the office.

As always, the essential business of the office is criminal litigation and the office continues to operate in an environment of externally imposed deadlines and very high work volumes. The statistics and case reports in the body of this report give an idea of the breadth, quantity and complexity of the work performed by the Office.

A.3 Highlights

Noteworthy operational achievements during 2012–2013 were:

• The performance of the Office in the Supreme Court in conducting a record number of trials, sentencing proceedings, and appeals;
• The contribution to the Supreme Court performance by all officers, including paralegal and corporate staff who arrange for the attendance of witnesses, and WAS officers who had to deal with many difficult cases;
• The prosecution of a number of complex matters, including two murders, serious armed robberies, conspiracies to commit robbery, major frauds, and historical sexual assaults;
• The prosecution of significant Crown appeals;
• Responding to a record numbers of appeals in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal;
• Implementing the special measures in sexual offence cases, in particular the procedure whereby evidence is given in advance of the trial hearing;
• The preparation of a number of tendency and coincidence applications in all manner of prosecutions, particularly sexual offences;
• The consolidation of the paralegal professional development package;
• The progress to electronic service delivery, and decreasing reliance on paper;
• taking action in significant COCA matters;