Annual Report 2016-17

Judicial Commission of NSW – Annual Report 2016–17 40 Figure 10. Informit viewings of our publications 2013–17 Informit viewings Informit is an extensive Australian collection of databases, providing access to peer-reviewed and specialist journals published in Australia. Inclusion of our Judicial Officers’ Bulletin and The Judicial Review demonstrates that Informit considers these publications to be of a scholarly standard. Viewings of both these publications saw a 41% increase from the previous year as shown in Figure 10 (last year: 12% increase). This demonstrates the growing impact of our published work. The most popular articles accessed concerned Aboriginal issues, cultural diversity and managing litigants in person. Table 6. Website use of our resources 2013–17 2013–14 hits/mth 2014–15 hits/mth 2015–16 hits/mth 2016–17 hits/mth Change % Target % Civil Trials Bench Book 24,230 26,532 30,839 38,435 24.6 5 Criminal Trial Courts Bench Book 18,618 19,668 21,451 27,702 29.1 5 Sentencing Bench Book 20,082 22,069 23,919 29,682 24.1 5 Local Court Bench Book 8,634 11,458 12,176 16,347 34.3 5 Equality Before the Law Bench Book 171 208 303 817 169.6 5 Sexual Assault Trials Handbook 2,035 2,207 2,151 3,249 51.1 5 Sentencing Trends & Issues 4,449 5,200 4,741 759 -84.0 5 Highlights of the legal information program for 2016–17 • 16 updates to the bench books and handbooks (last year: 19). These loose leaf reference books assist judicial officers to conduct trials. They contain relevant legislation, case law, sentencing principles, procedural guidelines, suggested jury directions and sample orders. Bench books promote a consistent judicial approach and help reduce the risk of error. The bench books are updated and reviewed by committees, made up of current and retired judicial officers and Commission staff. Considerable effort is required to maintain their currency to ensure that changes are reported quickly and accurately. • A research monograph that provides an in-depth analysis of environmental protection and planning offences prosecuted in the Land and Environment Court of NSW. See case study on p 33. • 1 research study that reports the sentences imposed in the Local Court of NSW for the most common offences in 2015. • 238 Recent Law items posted on JIRS which explained important cases and legislation (this included all items concerning High Court decisions and NSW legislation which were posted within 2 days of receipt) (last year: 209 items). • 244 summaries of significant appeal decisions on JIRS and in the Judicial Officers’ Bulletin (last year: 205). • 11 issues of the Judicial Officers’ Bulletin : a monthly newsletter that informs judicial officers of important developments to case law and legislation and current legal issues. • 11 issues of the e-newsletter: a monthly newsletter that informs judicial officers about upcoming seminars, conferences, and recent conference papers available to download. • 2 issues of The Judicial Review : this is a peer- reviewed journal bringing together articles and papers to inform judicial readers of technical and topical matters, court craft, and social context issues. More details of these publications are found in Appendix 8. Public website usage The most accessed resources on our public website are the Civil Trials Bench Book and the Sentencing Bench Book . There has been 24% growth for both these bench books. The Civil Trials Bench Book provides information about all aspects of running civil proceedings and rules about evidence admitted in civil trials. The Sentencing Bench Book provides information and legal principles relevant to sentencing law. The Criminal Trial Courts Bench Book had an increase of 29% in usage. This book provides a constantly updated compendium of the relevant case law and legislation that applies when conducting a criminal case. The detailed information on practice is supplemented with procedural guidelines, suggested jury directions and sample orders. The Equality Before the Law Bench Book recorded the most growth with an increase of 170%. More information about our published resources is found in Appendix 8. Our redesigned website was launched this year providing a contemporary, easy-to-access platform. Due to the redesigned website and different metrics for counting page hits, it is not possible to compare overall website use this year with previous years for monographs. See Table 6. Page hits 2,261 1,905 728 The Judicial Review Judicial Officers’ Bulletin 2014—15 2013—14 2015—16 1,805 2,348 2016—17 1,437 2,691 3,166