FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
ANNUAL REPORT 2000 - 2001
CHAPTER 2
The year under review saw the Court continue to achieve its objective of promptly, courteously and effectively deciding disputes according to law so as to fulfil its role as a court exercising the judicial power of the Commonwealth under the Constitution. Through its jurisdiction, the Court applied and upheld the rule of law to deliver remedies and enforce rights and in so doing, contributed to the social and economic development and well-being of all Australians. The Court’s innovative approach to managing its work, and the way the Court operates as an organisation, brought further recognition of its role as a world class civil court.
During the reporting year the Court managed and, in most cases, successfully dealt with a number of significant issues and developments. These include the following.
As a result of the amendments to the Native Title Act 1993 which commenced on 30 September 1998, the Court continued to be responsible for managing native title cases. During the reporting year the Court continued to implement initiatives in this jurisdiction, including:
During the reporting year the Court participated in a review by the Commonwealth Government of funding for native title cases. The review examined the acquittal of past funding, and assessed the future resource requirements of the Court and other stakeholders (including the National Native Title Tribunal) in light of anticipated developments, such as clarification by the High Court of the legal principles concerning the determination and extinguishment of native title. As a result of the review the Court received an additional allocation of $16.5 million over the next four years for the management and resolution of native title cases.
Further information about the native title jurisdiction is set out in Chapter 3 of this report.
The Court worked extensively with the new Federal Magistrates Court to consolidate and refine the arrangements for the provision of registry services and other assistance to the Federal Magistrates Court in its non-family law jurisdiction. The registrars of the Federal Court have been appointed as registrars of the Federal Magistrates Court, and the staff of the Federal Court's registries provide counter and other registry services for the new Court.
The High Court’s decision in Re Wakim Ex parte McNally & Anor in June 1999 effectively removed the Court’s jurisdiction in Corporations Law matters. As the number of Corporations Law cases had already been declining prior to the decision, the loss of the jurisdiction did not, of itself, reduce the Court’s workload. Any reduction that did occur was, in any event, completely consumed by the native title and other workload of the Court.
In the year under review the Court brought together a number of its existing and new technology initiatives into the eCourt Strategy. The Strategy, which reflects the Court’s commitment to ensuring that the justice system is relevant and responsive to the needs of the Australian community in the 21st century, aims to maximise the potential of relevant technology to extend and enhance the accessibility of the Court and the ways in which proceedings may be managed.
The eCourt Strategy includes such internal initiatives as the development of the Court’s new Case Management System, the Electronic Filing System, the eCourt On-line Forum, electronic courtrooms and electronic hearings, a Document Management System, and the further development of the Court’s web site. Details about these and other initiatives are set out in Chapter 3 of this report.
During the year the Court established eCourt committees in each State and Territory to provide a forum for consultations with the legal profession and others who have an interest in taking advantage of the Court's use of technology.
Cases under the Migration Act 1958 continue to form a large, and rapidly expanding, part of the Court's work. In 2000–2001 there were 1,312 Migration Act cases commenced in the Court, representing a 50 per cent increase from the number filed in 1999–2000 and, as an indication of the growth in this area in recent years, a 300 per cent increase from the number filed in 1995-1996. The number of migration cases proceeding to appeal also increased, with such cases making up 46.2 per cent of the Court’s appellate workload in the reporting year.
Section 478 of the Migration Act requires that an application for review by the Federal Court of a judicially reviewable decision must be lodged with a registry of the Federal Court within 28 days of the applicant being notified of the decision. Section 478(2) of the Act prevents the Court from granting an extension of the 28 days period, no matter what the circumstances.
Many applicants for review are in immigration detention, and are dependant on those maintaining the detention centre for the provision and transmission of forms to enable the applicant to seek review in the Court. There have been a number of instances during the reporting year where, through no fault of the detainee, the application for review was received by the Court outside the 28 day period. In these cases the Court was required to dismiss the application without regard to its merits: see, for example, Kucuk v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs (10 May 2001).
The inability of the Court to grant an extension of time in an appropriate case may result in significant injustice.
The appellate work of the Court continues to be substantial. Almost the same number of appeals were filed in 2000–2001 as in each of the last two reporting years, representing an increase of almost 150 per cent in the Court’s appellate workload since 1995-1996. The matters brought to the Court in its appellate jurisdiction range from long and complex native title claims through to the high volume Migration Act cases noted above. The Appeals Management Taskforce established by Chief Justice in 1999–2000 is continuing to identify, propose and implement solutions to issues raised by the Court’s heavy appellate workload.
Human rights jurisdiction
In April 2000 the Court acquired jurisdiction to hear and determine complaints alleging unlawful discrimination under the Race Discrimination Act 1974, Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and Disability Discrimination Act 1992. The specific rules and ‘user-friendly’ forms adopted by the Court for the new jurisdiction have continued to receive positive feedback.
Workload
During the year there were a number of changes to the Court’s jurisdiction, as outlined in Chapter 3 of this report. These changes resulted in the Court losing some work and gaining other work. The time and resources devoted to native title matters increased as more cases were managed by the Court towards resolution or trial. The Court’s appellate workload also increased, and the trend continued for more persons to appear without legal representation in appeals before the Full Court. Parties appearing without representation often take more time to present their appeal than those who are represented.
Notwithstanding the challenges presented by these changes, the Court maintained its performance of disposing of 90.9 per cent of cases in less than 18 months from the date of filing.
Detailed information about the Court's workload can be found in Chapter 3.
The Court has two key standards, referred to as time goals. The first concerns the time cases should take from filing to completion. The second concerns the time within which reserved judgments are delivered.
The Court has set a time goal of 85 per cent of cases (excluding native title matters) to be disposed within eighteen months from commencement. This percentage is regularly reviewed by the Court.
In 2000–2001 the Court completed 90.9 per cent of cases (excluding native title matters) within eighteen months – the same percentage of completed cases as for 1999–2000. Further details about the completion of cases is set out in Chapter 3.
The Court has set the period of three months as the goal within which reserved judgments will be delivered. The degree to which the Court will meet this goal is dependent upon the complexity of the case and the pressure of other business upon the Court. During 2000–2001 the Court handed down 1,197 reserved judgments, with almost 78 per cent of them delivered in less than three months from the date of being reserved. This represents a small increase in the percentage from 1999–2000.
As a result of careful management, the Court achieved a surplus for the reporting year. The surplus mainly comprises unexpended native title funding which is likely to be used in the next financial year and 2002–2003 as more native title matters come before the Court for intensive case management and determination.
The Court’s workload
During 2001–2002 the Court will continue to develop and implement practices and procedures for ensuring that cases coming before it are dealt with efficiently. In particular, the Court will be giving special consideration to the issues raised by the increasing number of self represented litigants and the impact this has on the time and resources needed to resolve the matters in which they are involved. The Court will consider a range of strategies to address these issues while ensuring that the rights of self represented litigants are not affected.
The Corporations jurisdiction will be restored to the Court in early 2001–2002. Given its existing workload, the Court, through its Corporations Committee, will be giving particular attention to identifying and addressing any issues that arise with the return of this jurisdiction. In addition, Justice Lindgren will continue to convene the Council of Chief Justices’ Harmonised Corporations Rules Monitoring Committee which oversees the harmonised Corporations Rules adopted by the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of each State and Territory.
The management of native title matters is likely to become increasingly complex and resource intensive for the Court as more cases complete the case management and mediation stages and, if not resolved by agreement, proceed to trial. To meet its three year time goal, the Court will continue to develop and implement innovative procedures for the management and resolution of native title matters.
Work will continue on developing and implementing the various initiatives identified in the Court’s eCourt Strategy. The eCourt On-line Forum will continue to operate as a pilot, involving close consultation with users, until the end of 2001.
A major project of the Court’s Community Relations Program for 2001–2002 will be to host a national art competition for secondary school students in which two awards will be given in each State and Territory for art produced by school students in lower secondary to year 10. The key objective of this project is to promote a greater understanding of the legal system and the role of the Federal Court in delivering justice. The Court will undertake this initiative with Curriculum Corporation, a national nonprofit organisation which has developed the national civic education program Discovering Democracy.
The Court will continue to attempt to maintain its reputation as a world class civil court through pursuing all the initiatives and targets mentioned above. In particular, it will be looking to identify and implement new initiatives and benchmarks in light of developments in Australia and internationally.