Coalition wants to split Court of Appeal to focus on tougher sentences

The Victorian opposition has announced plans to split the Court of Appeal in two if it wins the November state election. The Coalition says it will establish a new Court of Criminal Appeal to ensure judges with backgrounds in criminal justice handle sentencing reviews. The Labor government has rubbished the plan, saying it would create delays in the court system. The Victorian opposition is promising to introduce a specialist Court of Criminal Appeal to deal with serious offenders and sentencing, if it wins the November election. The Coalition plans to split the existing Court of Appeal into two separate courts, a Court of Criminal Appeal and a Court of Civil Appeal. It says specialised judges with expertise in criminal prosecutions would be appointed to the new standalone court to handle appeals by offenders and ensure sentencing for serious crime meets community expectations. The latest crime statistics for Victoria showed youth crime had fallen for the first time in four years, but adult crime rose by 10 per cent due to factors including increases in breaches of bail, retail theft and breaches of family violence orders. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said Victoria's criminal justice system was broken and offenders were not afraid of the consequences. "Victorians are sick and tired of watching offenders walk into our court system and get a slap on the wrist," she said. "We have a plan to keep Victorians safe, we have a plan to ensure that our court system and our criminal justice system actually meets community expectations." Former police officer and now Liberal member for Mordialloc, Paul O'Halloran joined Ms Wilson and Shadow Attorney General James Newbury for today's policy announcement. "Police officers I've worked with over the years are truly frustrated about offenders being bailed, of being released and sentences not reflecting community expectations," Mr O'Halloran said. "We must have consequences for serious offending." Mr Newbury said he had "consulted with the courts" on the policy but would not say whether he has discussed it with any members of the judiciary. "I have consulted in the way Victorians would expect," he said. When new Victorian Premier Ben Carroll took over the leadership from Jacinta Allan last month, he said he was making crime a centrepiece of his leadership. He said one of his first phone calls was to Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush to talk about police resourcing. Mr Carroll said the Coalition's plan would cause delays to moving cases through the Court of Appeal. "The modern-day Liberal party is lacking talent and lacking solicitors, and today's policy announcement shows just that," he said. "We've seen today the Liberal party searching for a policy idea and not doing any homework."