Essay: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Australian Legal System

This essay provides a critical analysis of the Australian legal system's effectiveness in delivering justice to all Australians. The paper argues that while the legal system is designed to protect citizens' rights and ensure equality, there are significant flaws and loopholes that undermine its efficiency, particularly for vulnerable populations. The essay examines the theoretical framework of the Australian legal system, highlighting principles such as impartial courts and equality before the law. However, it then presents evidence from media reports and statistical data to illustrate the shortcomings of the system, including issues like limited access to legal aid, court backlogs, and the disproportionate impact on marginalized groups like Indigenous Australians and those with mental health issues. The essay concludes that the Australian legal system does not completely provide effective and efficient justice, and that legal provisions must be improved for simplicity and flexibility.

Running head: AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
Australian Legal System
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
Table of Contents
The Australian Legal System and its efficiency: A Critical Analysis...........................2
Introduction................................................................................................................2
The Australian legal system in theory........................................................................2
The Consciousness of the Media highlighting the loopholes of the legal system.....3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................4

2AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
The Australian Legal System and its efficiency: A Critical Analysis
Introduction
The Australian Legal System is comprised of a vast and complex rules and
regulations that operates the legislative, executive and the judicial system. It is designed to
safeguard the rights of the Australian citizens and it ensures that the citizens are treated
equally in the eye of the law. However, in today’s date, there are several allegation along
with justifications that vividly shows that there are flaws and loopholes in the legal systems
that fails to safeguard the vulnerable Australians by its strict yet complicated and orthodox
legal system1. The paper would strive to highlight the vulnerability of the people in the hands
of the inefficient legal system.
The Australian legal system in theory
As discussed by Australian Law Commission, the Australian Legal System vouch for
its impartial and independent court system and disseminate the message that the courts
ensure that the citizens receive an unbiased and fair trial before the court2. Along with this,
the judicial system ensures that the people have a right to appeal when they are unsatisfied
by an order of the court. Equality before the law being one of the major principles of the
Australian Legal System which signifies that the citizens would be safeguarded from any
discrimination irrespective of their race, gender, ethnicity, economic status or even mental
capacity and they would be treated equally under the legal system3. For example, there are
legal provisions that entrusts people with the right to be silent and not answer when arrested
by the police and ask for legal help. On a similar note, legal provisions safeguard people and
1 "160,000 People Turned Away: How The Justice System Is Failing Vulnerable Australians", ABC News
(Webpage, 2019) <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-03/how-the-justice-system-is-failling-vulnerable-
australians/8770292>.
2 Australia. Law Reform Commission. Equality before the law: Justice for women. The Commission (1994).
3 Williams, John M. "The Australian Constitution." A Documentary History (2005)

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give them the right to be observed as to when investigated or interrogated by the police. As
mentioned by the Australian Human Rights Commission, the criminal justice system ensures
that the accused are presumed to be innocent until they are proved to be guilty under the law
and this includes the privilege of the grant of bail unless denied for a strong reason4.
The Conscious Media highlighting the loopholes of the legal system
However, the conscious media of today’s world cannot be fooled by the letters of the
law that fails the citizens of their basic right to institute a suit or a case even when the
Constitution guarantees it5. As argued by the ABC news, the number of Australians suffering
in the hands of inefficient legal system is growing by leaps and bound. People suffering from
social and economic challenges faces more number of legal issues than usually pertaining to
health benefits, consumer issues, dealing with the government administrations, et cetera. As
per the recent statistical data 160,000 people have been turned down by the community legal
service centres due to lack of legal help and capacity. In addition, it is stated that only 8
percent of the Australians are helped with legal aid service while Australia has over 13
percent of its population below the poverty line. Additionally, the Courts are so heavily
burdened that minor trials are being pushed for a period of 2-3 years for hearings. This is
resulting to the minor unresolved suits or cases growing into complex matters, increasing the
burden of the court more and more each day. The sufferings of the Aboriginals are more
highlighted than others for the number of arrested and imprisoned indigenous people.
Newspapers like The Conversation argued that the Australian Courts are extremely
slow, formal, complicated and expensive. This affects the poor citizens who are incapable of
getting hold of an attorney every time they are involved with a legal dispute. This information
has been supported by the report of the productivity Commission that inquired into the
4 "Equal Before The Law? How The Criminal Justice System Is Failing People With Disability | Australian
Human Rights Commission", Humanrights.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/equal-law-how-criminal-justice-system-failing-people-
disability>.
5 Ibid.

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matters of accessing justice over a period of time. The law and Justice Foundation of the
NSW surveyed in 2008 and found out that 20,000 Australians have been facing legal issues in
the year6. On the other hand, The Guardian has argued that the people with mental health
issues are among the most vulnerable to suffer for the lack of accessibility of the legal system
for they find it difficult and shocking to deal with the police and court system7. However, the
Australian Government launched a ‘liaison and diversion’ service in order to identify and
help the vulnerable adults and children to refer to the appropriate legal service for their legal
issues, yet it did not succeed to achieve a success story by assisting the vulnerable. The
service has lacked serious funding issue along with a lack of disseminating its awareness. The
Prison Reform Trust (PRT) argued that the government, have tried to stop people from being
captive in prison cells in the name of ‘pace of safety’, while the national Appropriate Adult
Network (NAAN) counter-argued that such initiative of the PRT has failed for there has been
thousands of vulnerable who has been held in a prison cell8.
Conclusion
Therefore, to conclude the critical analysis of the statement that the Australian legal
system effectively and efficiently provides justice to the Australians is not completely true to
its sense. Even though the legal system tries its best to comfort the society, yet the ever-
growing society with its issues are not always addressed with the right remedy. The Legal
system requires better and more efficient legal provisions that would ensure simplicity and
flexibility of law and the judicial system in Australia.
6 "'Slow, Expensive, Complicated' Legal System Must Be Improved", The Conversation (Webpage, 2019)
<https://theconversation.com/slow-expensive-complicated-legal-system-must-be-improved-25382>.
7 Mary O&#x27;Hara, "Why Is Our Justice System Failing Vulnerable People? | Mary O’Hara", The Guardian
(Webpage, 2019) <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/09/prison-system-failing-vulnerable-people>.
8 Ibid.

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Bibliography
"160,000 People Turned Away: How The Justice System Is Failing Vulnerable Australians",
ABC News (Webpage, 2019) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-03/how-the-justice-
system-is-failling-vulnerable-australians/8770292
"Equal Before The Law? How The Criminal Justice System Is Failing People With Disability
| Australian Human Rights Commission", Humanrights.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/equal-law-how-criminal-justice-system-
failing-people-disability
"'Slow, Expensive, Complicated' Legal System Must Be Improved", The Conversation
(Webpage, 2019) <https://theconversation.com/slow-expensive-complicated-legal-system-
must-be-improved-25382>
Australia. Law Reform Commission. Equality before the law: Justice for women. The
Commission (1994)
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Joudo-Larsen, Jacqueline. "Restorative justice in the Australian criminal justice system."
(2014) AIC reports. Research and Public Policy series: v
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O’Hara", The Guardian (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/09/prison-system-failing-vulnerable-
people>
Williams, John M. "The Australian Constitution." A Documentary History (2005)