The Adjournment Court alleviate the need for formal adjournment applications before a Magistrate, and may 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 . Some matters are not considered appropriate for disposal by the Adjournment Court, such as Complaints in which Defendants are jointly charged. Practitioners intending to appear before the Adjournment Court are requested to attend punctually to ensure that the procedures operate to maximum efficiency. This results in a saving of time for those individual Defendants, and enables the Magistrate to commence dealing with more substantive Intake Court proceedings without delay. Certain organisations provide voluntary assistance to members of the public who have occasion to attend the Magistrates Court at Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie.
Some volunteers are law students.
The Court Registries provides contact details on request. During the year, the Magistrates Court acknowledged the valuable service performed by Court Volunteers for Court users. In February 2000, a presentation ceremony marked the valued service of Mrs Mary Brookes and Mrs Dorothy King who, as Court Volunteers with the Hobart Community Legal Service, have provided selfless service over several years to court users at the Hobart Magistrates Court. Speakers at the ceremony were Mr Robert Johnson of the Hobart Community Legal Service, Fr Nagle, who coordinates the excellent Court support service at the Launceston Magistrates Court, and the Chief Magistrate. Construction of the ROAS system occurred during the reporting year, and testing of the system in the Police Department is under way with a view to implementation in 2001.