Report finds other reasons for court delay

Over half the cases listed for a special family law sitting to deal with backlogs at the Midland Circuit Court were adjourned, according to a report on family law released yesterday.

Family Law Matters, a report by family law reporter, Dr Carol Coulter, found that lack of court time is not always the reason why family law cases take a long time to be heard.

Some 29 cases were listed for hearing over the four days, but by the end of the week 15 had been adjourned and 14 were dealt with, the report said.

It highlighted comments from Judge Con Murphy, who warned that "anything that is adjourned from this family law list could be meandering around forever".

In a judicial separation case, the barrister for the husband said his client was unhappy about going ahead. The court heard he was elderly and in poor health, the report said, and his GP told him going to court would be stressful for him. The wife in the case had first sought the separation in 2001 and there had been many adjournments. She was ready to go on.

The judge said there was no reason why the case couldn't go ahead at the end of the week and queried why they needed 12 witnesses. When the case was called at the end of the week, the court was told it was settled.