How wheels of justice are turning slower in NSW after 'great flood' at Downing Centre
If the wheels of justice grind slowly, that pace has just taken a considerable hit in NSW, courtesy of an unlikely suspect: a burst water main.
Sittings had just begun in one of the country's busiest court buildings on Tuesday morning when courtrooms and foyers throughout the Downing Centre's seven bustling levels were plunged into darkness.
Magistrates and judges left the bench as emergency fluorescent lights activated.
Bemusement perhaps described the mood in one of its largest courtrooms on level five, as lawyers made small talk during the wait for information.
One magistrate returning to collect papers from the bench quipped it was "like a disco in here".
Soon after, the building was evacuated and as hundreds of public servants, legal practitioners, defendants and court reporters filed down emergency exit stairs, the cause became clear.
Water gushed from drains on Castlereagh Street in Sydney's CBD, which runs down one side of the former department store.
It has since been revealed flooding in the lower level of the heritage-listed building caused "extensive damage" to the infrastructure, including electricity and IT equipment.
On current estimates, repairs will take at least four weeks.
"There is going to be a huge domino effect," Jennifer Ball, president of the Law Society of NSW, told the ABC at the end of the working week.
"We've already got some backlogs … and the courts have been doing their utmost best to try to have the matters heard.
"Now with this delay, with the court already being closed for two days now and for the foreseeable future until the repairs are done, we don't know how big that domino effect will be."
To understand why this closure is significant, you only need to look at the sheer volume of cases that pass through the Downing Centre — tens of thousands of matters are dealt with there each year.
On the day of the flooding, there were more than 500 listings.
A magistrate may have 150 matters on their docket on any given sitting day in the Local Court, not to mention District Court matters and ongoing trials in that jurisdiction.
Ms Ball describes the building as the "heartbeat of judicial access" for scores of people in NSW.
"The disruption is quite enormous."
The Department of Communities and Justice said assessment of the damage is ongoing and court staff are making "every effort to ensure matters are able to proceed wherever possible".
Priority in the District Court has been placed on proceedings of some age, and where the accused is in custody.
But it is "inevitable that some part-heard trials will have to be aborted", according to information handed to the NSW Bar Association from the Chief Judge of the District Court.
The scramble to relist and relocate cases will have placed considerable pressure on registries and staff.
Many matters have been shifted to the John Maddison Tower, on the other side of the block.
One magistrate on Friday told parties appearing before her the "great flood" has meant she has completely lost access to her chambers.
Jane Sanders, principal solicitor at the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre, said it's been a confusing week, particularly for clients.
But professional bodies including the Bar Association and the Law Society have done their best to keep practitioners updated, as has the Department.
"It has been really difficult," Ms Sanders told the ABC.
"I think the courts have been working things out as they go along.
"They've had to find — in a really short space of time — other courtrooms in other buildings where they can move things for defendants in criminal cases who are in custody which, unfortunately, I would say there's far too many."
Thirteen people in custody in the downstairs cells of the Downing Centre had to be relocated for their safety on Tuesday. Two people had to be rescued from the lifts.
Ms Sanders said she has been told of audio visual-link (AVL) appearances being cancelled on Thursday because of an impression nothing would be proceeding.
"It has been a real shambles and that's no one's fault," she said
"I think everybody's been doing the best they can, but having to find courtrooms and different arrangements urgently, that's been a real challenge."
While Ms Sanders believes an unexpected adjournment may not be an issue particularly if someone is facing a minor criminal charge, concerns arise when a defendant is on remand and refused bail.
And "kicking the can down the road for a month" may not be an option.
"There's also a whole list full of cases next month. So it's not that simple," she said.
It's not the first time the justice system has had to quickly adapt.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a heavier reliance was placed on AVLs and remote appearances.
But Ms Sanders said the difference here is that in many cases, the proceedings need to be recorded and conducted in accordance with procedures that can only happen inside a courtroom.
"Even during the COVID pandemic where all of the lawyers, the defendants, in some cases witnesses, were all dialling in from remotely, we still had magistrates and judges sitting in a courtroom with the recording equipment," she said.
"With a few court staff to keep the wheels in motion with all the audio visual link equipment, all beaming into the court."
If there is any silver lining to be seen from the timing of the flood, it's that next week marks a three-day annual conference for magistrates, followed by a mid-year recess the following week, for the Local Court.
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