No 7 of 1999 - Adjournment Courts
The Magistrates Court has introduced Adjournment Courts for all intake courts held in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie.
This will allow those defendants who require an adjournment on their first appearance to be granted that adjournment with the minimum delay.
This Court will alleviate the need for formal adjournments before a Magistrate, and will be granted by a Bench Justice or a Justice appointed by the Chief Magistrate pursuant to the recent amendments to Section 17 of the Justices Act 1959.
The Adjournment Court commences at 9.45am (Hobart) and 9.30am (Launceston, Devonport and Burnie). Its operation will be as follows:
prior to the commencement of the Adjournment Court, a court officer will announce to all defendants outside the court that those requiring an adjournment move into the intake/lock-up Court room;
a call-over of the intake/lock-up list will then be conducted to ascertain which matters are eligible for transfer to the Adjournment Court;
a Court Clerk and Prosecutor shall, if appropriate, then direct the defendants to move to the adjournment court room.
upon the adjournment being granted, a written notification will be handed to the defendant informing them of the next appearance date and other relevant information.
Those defendants that are not dealt with at the initial call over and who attend after the commencement of the Adjournment Court will be required to wait until the intake/lock-up Magistrate is in a position to deal with them.