Two new judges have been appointed to serve in Tasmania's Supreme Court to help clear a backlog of cases the Chief Justice has previously labelled as severe.
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Attorney-General Guy Barnett has announced Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Daly has been appointed an associate judge of the court and Justice David Porter has been appointed as a full-time acting judge.
Tasmania's Supreme Court backlog rose by 100 cases over 12 months to June 20, 2023, to reach 743 cases.
In the court's last published annual report of the 2021-22 year, Chief Justice Alan Blow said the court's case backlog for criminal matters remained its biggest problem.
"The backlog problem remains very serious," he said.
Tasmanian parliament in 2021 passed legislation to allow the Magistrates Court to undertake preliminary proceedings for trials that would otherwise be done by the Supreme Court.
"The only significant development is that a greater proportion of the pending cases are now in the Magistrates Court awaiting the making of committal orders and a smaller proportion are pending in the Supreme Court," Chief Justice Blow said in the annual report.
The annual report for 2022-23 has not yet been tabled in parliament.
The court has been down one judge after Justice Greg Geason was instructed by Chief Justice Blow to take leave in November.
Justice Geason had been charged with one count of emotional abuse or intimidation and one count of common assault.
The matter is before the Magistrates Court and he has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
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