Public confidence needed in court system
Head of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Law School and criminal law barrister Professor Geraldine Mackenzie believes more public confidence is needed in the court system. In her address at the inaugural Shine Lawyers USQ Law School Public Lecture on Tuesday night, Professor Mackenzie said there was a serious problem with public confidence in the courts, largely driven by public perceptions not matching with reality. She also noted that studies had shown that fear of crime was a major factor in the law and order debate, and yet reported crime was dropping in almost all categories, particularly offences against the person and property crimes. 'There’s no doubt in my mind the lack of confidence in the system is being exacerbated by some sections of the media, and the way that court proceedings are reported,' Professor Mackenzie said. 'The problems with the lack of confidence in the courts are many, not the least of which is the risk that people will take the law into their own hands.' The Attorney-General and Member for Toowoomba North, the Hon Kerry Shine MP, also spoke at the lecture. In his address, he spoke on safeguarding citizens’ rights and more specifically the role of the courts and the Attorney-General. Professor Mackenzie said it was an honour to have the Attorney-General present at the Law School’s inaugural public lecture. 'The USQ School of Law feels very privileged to have had the Attorney-General and Member for Toowoomba North Kerry Shine presenting at our public lecture,' Professor Mackenzie said. 'The issue of wrongful convictions is very important, and we believe that this issue is of great interest to the public and so hoped they benefited a great deal from what the Attorney-General had to say.' The event received an overwhelming response, with over one hundred members of the public, USQ staff and legal industry guests in attendance. Shine Lawyers partner Darryl Cox said that Shine Lawyers were very pleased to be sponsors of the Public Lecture series. 'We are all delighted with the success of the night and look forward to building our partnership with the USQ School of Law in the future,' Mr Cox said. Professor Mackenzie said that the Law School was overwhelmed by the number of people who came along to the lecture and saw this as a strong indication of how important these issues really are to our society. 'We are very much looking forward to our next public lecture and encourage the public to monitor our website for any future events.' Shine Lawyers was founded over 30 years ago in Toowoomba and now has more than 200 staff in Queensland and Western Australia, with offices in Toowoomba, Brisbane, Redcliffe, Sunshine Coast, Caboolture, Strathpine, Logan, Gympie, Gold Coast, Mackay, Perth, Townsville and Cairns. Media Contact: USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2092 
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