Senate Minority Leader Wade Mark said the Opposition would prefer to see the Trial by Judge Alone bill sent to a Joint Select Committee (which would include representatives of both Houses of Parliament) rather than a Special Select Committee (which would comprise only senators).
Mark, according to an Express report, said because of the nature of the bill and because of the “raging controversy surrounding it, the preference is any examination of the bill by a Committee be extended to the House of Representatives through a Joint Select Committee.
“Our option is for wider participation in this examination and to get the views of a wider segment of the population, given the fact that the Lower House is the elected body and therefore represents the people,” Mark said, adding that there should be broader participation and involvement in the matter.
The Law Association, meanwhile, wants a public consultation.
It added that there was little trust by accused people in the judge-alone system and that an accused person was unlikely to choose a judge-alone trial in the current atmosphere where confidence in the Judiciary has been eroded.