Federal
Court begins regular north Queensland sittings
The Federal Court today began the first of regular sittings
in north Queensland in an effort to facilitate greater
access to justice for residents of the region.
Queensland's most senior Federal Court judge, Justice
Jeffrey Spender, presided at a short ceremony at the
Supreme Court building in Cairns that was also attended
by representatives of the Far North Queensland Barristers
Association and Far North Queensland Law Association.
The court will sit in Cairns and Townsville every three
months with a calendar of sittings published before the
start of each law term. The Federal Court is one of four
national courts and deals with almost every aspect of
federal law.
The population of Cairns is about 122,000, Townsville
about 95,000 with the population of the combined shires
around Cairns, Townsville and Mackay more than 500,000.
Justice Spender said the introduction of regular sittings
meant local people would have greater access to justice. "Obviously
there are substantial savings when people don't have
to litigate in Brisbane and a greater convenience in
having their matters dealt with locally," he said.
He said the regular sittings will be supplemented by
the use of video conferencing and telephone hook ups
for urgent matters, and interlocutory hearings as required.
The court has a large native title workload in the region
but other areas likely to be dealt with during the sittings
are: corporations, trade practices, administrative law,
intellectual property, human rights, admiralty, taxation,
environment, work place relations, bankruptcy and migration.
Previously the court's four Brisbane-based judges have
sat in the region on an ad hoc basis but the decision
to sit regularly recognises the growing caseload and
follows discussions with an array of legal organisations,
government agencies, legal aid offices and court users.
More than 400 solicitors and barristers are based in
north Queensland and practise in Cairns, Townsville and
Mackay and other regional centres. They will now know
well in advance the dates upon which scheduled sittings
will be held.
Media contact : Bruce Phillips Federal
Court 03 86003270, 0419341506,
