TASMANIAN Attorney-General Brian Wightman said yesterday Tasmania had one of the most cost-effective court systems in the country, despite a rise in cases on the Supreme Court waiting list.
Mr Wightman said last year's 351 original criminal case backlog, up by 27 from 2010-11, was marginal compared with a decrease in original pending civil cases.
``While the clearance rate, expressed as a percentage of the caseload, in some categories shows a slight deterioration on the previous year, other statistics reporting the underlying data indicate an improvement on the previous year's figure,'' Mr Wightman said.
He said the civil pending, original, caseload decreased from 828 to 802 at June 30, 2012.
He said although some cases had been rescheduled due to unavailable counsel, it was not a significant cause of delay or clearance of cases.
``Any increases in the reported figures for the 2011-2012 year are modest,'' Mr Wightman said.
``The Supreme Court reported the second lowest cost per finalisation of all states and territories in both its criminal and civil jurisdictions and both were well under the national average.''