President of The Law Society of NSW Doug Humphreys detailed the representative body’s strategic plans in a speech delivered on 31 January 2018 to mark the opening of the law term.
The key priorities identified include:
- advocating for enhanced resourcing of the Local Courts
- advocating for more resources for Legal Aid, which plays a critical role in facilitating access to justice
- advocating for a more transparent system in relation to appointments to Tribunals, to address criticisms that appointments have become political in nature
- the rapid build of a multi-court complex in the South West Sydney area
Mr Humphreys also discussed the issue of overcrowded prisons and the need to look at alternatives to prison to address this, as well as to ensure a more effective use of the NSW taxpayers’ money, stating:
“The fact is, by incarcerating a person, we forego the opportunity to employ an additional teacher, or a paramedic, or a nurse or a fire-fighter. Surely, we as a society would much prefer to spend money on those resources, if we can find ways to properly reduce prison numbers.”
A full transcript of the speech can be viewed here
