Annual Report 2016-17

Judicial Commission of NSW – Annual Report 2016–17 10 President’s foreword Acknowledging 30 years of successful operations I am very pleased to provide the foreword to the Judicial Commission’s Annual Report for 2016–17. This year marks 30 years of the Commission’s operations. For three decades the Commission has provided invaluable support services to the judicial officers of NSW through its continuing judicial education program, sentencing statistics, access to current legal information and complaints program. This year’s report presents a comprehensive summary of the Commission’s activities in education, research and complaint handling and highlights some of the achievements in these areas while also looking towards the future and the programs to be implemented in the coming year. Judicial education is well regarded The Commission has maintained a high satisfaction rate in the field of judicial education, with 91% of judicial officers satisfied with their program on an overall measure. The Commission continues to offer support to the education committees of each court by assisting in the development of programs, conferences and seminars. Next year, the Commission looks to deliver education sessions on the new criminal justice reforms to sentencing, parole and the motor accidents injuries scheme. Provision of quality legal information The Judicial Information Research System (JIRS) is one of the Commission’s success stories. It provides judicial officers with composite and linked legal information to assist at all stages of the judicial task, from committal to trial, sentencing and diversionary programs. JIRS is continuously updated to ensure judicial officers have access to current and reliable information. JIRS continued to attract a high number of users this year with an average of 134,476 page hits per month and saw the highest rate of access to publications in the last 5 financial years. The Honourable Tom Bathurst AC Chief Justice of NSW and President, Judicial Commission of NSW

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