Society president Anthony Mihal has expressed concern at how the state government’s plan to cut the court’s spending and jobs will affect its ability to reduce the backlog.

In Estimates it was revealed the court will have to shed more than $400,000 over four years just in ‘‘operational efficiencies’’ on top of the wage pause.

Justice Department secretary Simon Overland flagged job losses and labelled the savings ‘‘quite significant’’ as they followed prior budget cuts under Labor.

‘‘The reality is that most of these savings will need to be paid for by a reduction in (full-time equivalent positions),’’ he said.

The department will reduce jobs through natural attrition and possible voluntary redundancy and incentive payments to near retirees, he said.

There are 348 unheard criminal cases in the court, up from 316 last year, with 25 per cent of those at least a year old.

The Tasmanian Magistrates Court must also find savings of $15,000 this year and then $195,000 in 2015-16 and over the forward estimates.

The court, which is down two magistrates, is also facing a stubborn backlog of cases.

Mr Mihal said the spending cuts were very disappointing.

‘‘Providing the resources for a functioning justice system is the government’s core business,’’ he said.

‘‘If there’s going to be more loss  of staff and loss of experience ... I expect the courts’ efficiency will be negatively impacted.

Mr Mihal said spending cuts in the Director of Public Prosecution’s office and an increase in funding for legal aid that’s below inflation could impact the courts’ efficiency.

He said appointing a seventh judge had helped ease court backlogs in the past.

Attorney General Vanessa Goodwin did not appear swayed by the idea saying clearing rates for Supreme Court remained constant at 99 per cent.

‘‘The court has implemented case management strategies to reduce backlogs, particularly with older cases, and Commonwealth cases,’’ she said.

The court has also been scheduling an additional judge  – way from civil matters – to sit on criminal cases during the first half of 2014.

A department spokeswoman said the rise in pending cases reflected trials that were growing in length and complexity.

One trial this year took six months alone to finish.

‘‘Whilst backlogs and timeliness are important indicators of court performance, it is imperative that the quality of judicial decisions is not compromised by too much focus on achieving speedy outcomes,’’ she said.