Corrections Victoria fails to bring prisoners to court for hearings
- Corrections Victoria was criticised for its failure to bring prisoners to court for hearings, so they could be physically present in court. In the three years from 2013-2016 it was fined 650 times for holding defendants in custody rather than transporting them to scheduled court appearances.
- The effect of Corrections Victoria failing to bring prisoners to court for hearings was that some prisoners were unable to apply for bail and some missed their assessments for community-based sentences.
- The irony here is that, in many cases, accused people released from custody were perhaps more likely to present in courts for future hearings than defendants being held in remand — it seemed that accused people being held in remand were not guaranteed to appear in court.
- The Victorian Government announced $14.7 million in funding to improve videolink facilities in 53 courts. The Justice Legislation (Evidence and Other Acts) Amendment Act 2016 also required that most Magistrates’ Court hearings involving prisoners on remand be conducted by videolink.
