A LOCAL criminal lawyer is calling for dramatic changes to the court system after becoming frustrated by ongoing delays and inadequate suspended sentences.Among his growing wish list, Ballarat based lawyer Scott Belcher wants suspended sentences to have immediate punishment conditions attached, penalties to be incurred for lawyers and clients who cause unnecessary delay, and magistrates to require defence lawyers to make submissions on sentence in their opening remarks.Mr Belcher's comments come just weeks after the introduction of the more flexible community corrections orders which replaced four different community-based orders, and months after suspended sentences were abolished for recklessly causing serious injury, commercial drug trafficking, aggravated burglary and arson.In an exclusive interview with The Courier, Mr Belcher said court time in the current climate was precious and needed to be better used.
Lawyer calls for dramatic changes to court system