The Defendant Centred Courtroom (DCC) pilot trialed a reconfigured District Court courtroom where defendants who are not in custody sit or stand beside their counsel at the front of the court instead of standing in the dock. It is anticipated that placing the defendant at the centre of the courtroom will make the court process more understandable and accessible for defendants. It is expected that increasing understanding and engagement will culminate in a reduction in reoffending and an increase in sentence compliance among participating defendants.
The impact of the pilot on rates of recidivism and sentence compliance will be assessed at a later stage. The findings in this report are from interviews with 20 participating defendants, interviews with 38 professionals who work in the court (including judges, court staff, prosecution and defence lawyers) and the evaluators’ observations of the court.
Purpose
The aims of the evaluation are:
- To examine the perceived impact of the DCC on participating defendants;
- To explore the impact of the DCC on the court.
Key Results
The expected outcomes of the DCC pilot were that defendants would become more engaged with, and have a better understanding of, court proceedings. Findings from defendants indicate that these outcomes are being achieved. Defendants were able to hear, see and communicate more easily with their counsel, the judge and other court professionals and consequently felt they were part of the proceedings rather than on the periphery. The better access to counsel during proceedings also facilitated understanding and the ability to get correct information to the judge.
Findings from the key informants are mixed. Findings from some key informants (including most participating judges) indicate that the DCC increases defendants’ engagement and facilitates better understanding of court proceedings. However, many key informants thought the pilot had limited impact as they felt that defendants’ engagement and understanding was largely based on defendants’ individual circumstances and attributes including their willingness to engage.
It was anticipated that, ultimately, the DCC pilot would lead to increased sentence compliance and reduced recidivism for participating defendants. There was a general consensus among key informants that the DCC was unlikely to achieve these outcomes. Many key informants believed offending was driven by multiple factors that pervade defendants’ lives and addressing offending through the DCC pilot was seen as unlikely to have an impact.