They have labelled recent criticism of bail justices as demeaning and unjustifiable, and the negative comments have prompted a number of south-west volunteers to speak out about the community service they provide for the nominal sum of up to $300 a year. KATRINA LOVELL reports.
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THE Bourke Street tragedy has shone the spotlight on the role of bail justices, but the negative public perception has prompted those in the south-west to put the record straight.
The man who is accused of driving his car through the mall, killing six people and injuring 37, on January 20 had been released on bail by a bail justice. It was a revelation that prompted an immediate public backlash.
But they say that bail justices have a good record – the Bail Justice Working Party has produced a fact sheet which states bail justices remand about 86 per cent of cases while magistrates remand about 18 per cent.
The outcry has prompted the state government to review the role of bail justices in response to the tragedy.
Premier Daniel Andrews has also established a night court so a magistrate can hear out-of-hours bail applications.
The reaction and the accusations levelled at bail justices has prompted five south-west bail justices to speak out in the hope that people will understand just what they do for so little in return.
The active bail justices I spoke to asked that their names not be used, and when you hear their stories you will understand why.
Between them they have more than 50 years of experience working as a bail justice. They answer the call for help from police at all hours of the night – most calls in the wee hours of the morning.
One bail justice with 27 years’ experience has conducted bail hearings for those from both ends of the criminal scale – murder, manslaughter or pedophilia through to shoplifting.
He says there have been “hairy times” in the police station where he has been sworn at or abused. On one occasion he was followed home from the police station after a remand hearing.
Another, who has been a bail justice for about 14 years, says he has been followed home so many times he has lost count.
“I’ve been bashed. I’ve been physically abused so many times down the street I’ve lost count. There’s hardly a day that I could walk down Liebig Street where someone will give me a death glare or make a sly comment as I walk past,” he said.
“Fortunately the attack only lasted 20 or 30 seconds. Someone came to my aid otherwise it could have turned out real nasty.
“We cop it in the police station quite often, but it’s the experiences outside the police station where you have no protection at all.”
Despite that, he hasn’t considered giving the volunteer role away – “not for one moment”.
“Why should I be turned off it because of some clown that wants to have a bit of a crack? You wouldn’t do it if you didn’t want to do it,” he said.
He said he had been listening to the comments made on radio and in the media about bail justices and it was clear they had “no idea” what a bail justice has to do to be qualified.
“One person made a comment ‘where do we get out qualifications? In a Weeties box?’
“We’ve been given a rough deal. All of us take pride in what we do. It’s not easy what we do. It’s a big responsibility. To be badmouthed the way we have been...is totally unjustifiable. It’s not on.
“All the police I’ve spoken to since the Bourke Street incident say we do a fantastic job. The system isn’t broken. What needs to change is the Bail Act.”
He said it was re-offending while on bail that people were concerned about, revealing that he has only bailed two cases in the past 12 years.
“None of us have a crystal ball. You don’t know what they’re going to do in a week’s time. You’re not a fortune teller,” he said.
“It’s not rocket science to work out if a person’s going to re-offend.”
He said it was the magistrates who are letting the system down, noting that one accused that had come before him was on five different lots of bail.
“There’s no doubt things need to change. We just want to be more appreciated for what we do,” he said.
Another bail justice, who took up the role two years ago, says he has only bailed two people in the past 150 cases. He travels to Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool and Camperdown virtually every weekend, clocking up more than 100 cases a year.
And for all that travel and all the hours involved conducting the hearing and filling in paperwork, he gets paid just $300 for the year.
That’s nowhere near the amount he spends on petrol. He estimates he has spent more than $10,000 travelling across the countryside to hearings – and that’s not including the costs involved in training.
“The reason I do this is it’s a community service and you appreciate the work that Victoria Police does. It helps them out. The issue is that if they can’t get a bail justice they can’t keep an accused person from more than 24 hours,” he said.
“A high percentage of bail justices following the Bourke Street tragedy are now nervous at the way they’re being portrayed in the media and are now rostering themselves off.”
He said the police cells are full on some weekends.
The knock-on effect of what happened in Bourke Street mall is that everyone is being remanded, he said. “The system can’t cope. There’s no easy answer,” he said.
“I’ve seen a couple of examples in Geelong where I’ve remanded the child and they can’t find anywhere for them to go. They’re supposed to put them to a youth detention centre like Parkville – because Parkville’s been damaged – the no vacancy sign is hanging out there.”
The bail justice system operates between 4pm and 6am during weekdays. On Friday it kicks in at 4pm and runs 24 hours across the weekend, and on public holidays.
“We’re doing pretty important work for the police and we get nothing. I often refer to it as justice of the cheap,” he said.
To become a bail justice he had to do a year of training which also included conflict resolution, visiting Parkville detention centre and sitting exams before being sworn in by a magistrate.
Remand hearings are usually held at the police station, some even held in the cells if the accused refuses to leave.
He says there are set criteria which bail justices have to abide by – the highest level is ‘exceptional circumstances’, followed by ‘show cause’, both of which require the accused to prove they deserve bail, and often applies to an accused who has breached previous bail conditions.
The other is ‘unacceptable risk’ where the onus is on the police to show why the accused should not be bailed. A bail justice is also required to ask welfare questions.
A police sergeant or officer in charge has the power to bail some accused – depending on what they are charged with. It’s when police oppose bail they have to bring in the bail justice.
Bail justices also issue interim accommodation orders – where an at-risk child is removed from their home. These hearings can be in a hospital where children are just hours old or at the Department of Human Services offices.
They all agree that the ‘expensive’ night courts set up in the wake of the Bourke Street tragedy – which operate from 4pm to 9pm – would do little to address the problem because 90 per cent of cases a bail justice is called to occur after 9pm.
They point out that a bail justice is able to see an accused’s prior offence during the hearing – unlike a jury.
And they all agree that the nature of the crimes has grown worse with the increased use of the drug ice. Another justice with about five years’ experience says she has never bailed anyone.
She says the hearing take a toll revealing it often takes a while to go to sleep after conducting a hearing.
A bail justice often sees the accused at their most vulnerable – when they are upset or are drug-affected. For one bail justice it meant conducting a hearing for someone who had covered themselves in faeces.
They plan to make a submission to the bail review.
The Bail Justice Working Party has called for the Premier to reverse his decision to hold night courts and return to using bail justices, provide further training for magistrates and bail justices, and review the Bail Act.