Challenging Court Landscapes and Opportunities for Change

Courts are complex institutions which must constantly adjust to ensure that they are fulfilling their responsibilities to defendants, victims, witnesses, society and others who enter court spaces either virtually or physically. Courts must also manage their relationships with other agencies (whether justice or community) on whom they rely. Courts face an array of challenges in contemporary Australia, including the COVID-19 pandemic which has necessitated courts to pivot from inherently complex systems which are primarily public facing to virtual spaces which must continue to maintain the rule of law and to be open, transparent and subject to scrutiny. This chapter considers other challenges, too, which various courts and those who work in, with or appear before are facing. It assesses a suite of potential micro and macro reforms, advocating for ongoing systemic and structural change.