Loss of faith in courts when truth takes back seat

It is a worrying trend when people feel safer in the hands of the big tech companies than they do in the justice system (“Judges hit by loss of faith from public”, July 30). It would be easy to think that this is due to a lack of understanding of the legal process but it can also be attributed to the adversarial system itself, where truth often takes a back seat. Mostly, however, I would suggest that it is the apparent high incidence of serious offences committed by those on bail that has diminished faith in the ability of courts to adequately determine the genuine danger posed by an alleged offender. Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls

Pollster Jim Rees uses the Lehrmann prosecutions as a reason why less than one third of Australians trust the justice system to deliver. On the contrary, a majority of Australians are more concerned with alleged violent criminals being let out on bail and when they are found guilty, receiving relatively light or non-custodial sentences. Another frequent shortcoming of the courts is where celebrities, represented by celebrity lawyers, are found guilty of a criminal offence and get away with “conviction not recorded”. Until these issues are addressed, Australians’ faith in the justice system will remain diminished. Riley Brown, Bondi Beach

There is certainly a problem with inconsistency in legal judgments, but it is difficult to have faith in a legal system where financial backing is often the key. Arguably only two types of people can seek justice, the rich and the poor. The poor will benefit from legal aid, while the rich can engage an expensive legal team and consider appeals against a judgment until the opposition is broken psychologically or financially. Such a war of attrition can hardly convince one that justice is inevitably done. Geoff Harding, Chatswood

For 42 years I have worked closely with our judiciary from magistrates to senior judges within our criminal justice system. The essence of the article was the quote from pollster Jim Reed “less than a third trust the justice system to deliver...” To deliver what? Our system of justice and the judiciary therein do not exist to provide the public with what some see as “justice”. They exist to administer the law. And herein lies my criticism of the media. So often I see the media jumping on the bandwagon of “injustice” when in truth it’s about someone not getting what they wanted. This erodes the public’s confidence in the integrity of a system that has stood for the test of time. Brian Roach, Westleigh

Onus on all of us

In response to the appalling statistic that 31 per cent of the NSW prison population is Aboriginal, a letter writer asked what local Aboriginal communities are doing to fix this problem (“Shameful and appalling”, Letters, July 30). Representing less than 4 per cent of the Australian population, they are doing a lot, but how much can they do? Australia emphatically said no to giving First Nations People a voice in coming up with solutions. Clearly the NSW government, police and government agencies can, and must, do a lot more. Post-referendum federal and state governments have dropped the ball on Closing the Gap and empowering Aboriginal voices in matters that affect them. The rest of Australia must now do the heavy lifting and keep the fire burning to hold our elected governments to account for effective change. Karen Wyatt, Pyrmont

Privy to positions

Yes, Tony Burke has picked up a heavy ministerial workload but isn’t it refreshing to be informed, that unlike with Scott Morrison’s multiple secret ministries debacle, we, the public are made privy to the changes made by those we have elected (“Minister for Everything”, Letters, July 30)? Glenn Johnson, Leura