R v Sim (No.1)

[2019] NSWDC 309

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:	R v Sim (No.1) [2019] NSWDC 309
Hearing dates:	15 April 2019
Decision date:	15 April 2019
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Before:	Colefax SC DCJ
Decision:	Leave granted to physically file the indictment in Court - Judge's associate directed not to manually process the indictment on the JusticeLink system - matter for Registrar whether any member of the Registry enters the indictment into JusticeLink.
Catchwords:	Application for leave to file indictment - cannot be electronically filed because of JusticeLink programming
Cases Cited:	R v AC [2018] NSWDC 127
Category:	Procedural and other rulings
Parties:	Regina (Crown) Jungjin Sim (Accused)
Representation:	Mr Paish (Crown Prosecutor) Mr Fraser (Counsel for the offender)
File Number(s):	2017/377227
Publication restriction:	Non publication order of the identity of the first complainant.

JUDGMENT

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1. In this matter the Crown seeks leave to file an indictment. 

2. The indictment cannot be electronically filed because, as currently programmed, the JusticeLink system cannot cope with an indictment which contains, for any particular count, two different law part codes. 

3. Almost a year ago, on 21 May 2018, I published a judgment in the matter of R v AC [2018] NSWDC127 in which, amongst other things, I addressed this programming difficulty with JusticeLink. I noted then, all those many months ago, that the JusticeLink support team, as it is called, had been aware of the problem I had identified in that matter on 26 March 2018 for some time.

4. I noted in that judgment that a number of senior members of the court registry staff, both in the Paramatta registry and in other places, have been concerned at the implications of electronically entering indictments into the JusticeLink system by leaving off end dates.  I said in that judgment that I, like those registry staff, was of the opinion that the removal of any end date which appears on an indictment from the JusticeLink entry would result in an erroneous entry being made in the Court’s computer system. I am still of that opinion. 

5. As in the case of AC, I shall grant leave to the Crown to physically file in Court the indictment which cannot electronically be filed. 

6. As in the case of AC, I direct my associate not to manually process the entry of that indictment onto the Justice Link system because of these concerns I have just expressed. 

7. And as in R v AC, it is a matter for the Paramatta District Court registrar as to whether or not the indictment will be entered by any member of that registry into the JusticeLink system.