No night in court
Verdict on extra sittings
THE Magistrates’ Court of Victoria says it does not have plans to intoduce a night court in Geelong.
It comes after Western Victoria MP Stuart Grimley said sitting hours at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court should be extended by at least five hours a day to deal with the judicial backlog created by COVID-19.
A Magistrates’ Court spokeswoman said while the court reviewed its work practices regularly, there were no plans to extend sitting in Geelong to 9pm on weekdays.
“The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria currently has no plans to expand the Bail and Remand Court, but we regularly review the workloads in each of our regions to determine how they can best manage demand,” the spokeswoman said.
“In response to the coronavirus pandemic, a range of non-urgent matters were adjourned earlier this year. These have all been re-listed.
“The court launched a pilot of online hearings in May (in areas outside Geelong) to reduce the need for people to enter court buildings.
“A range of matters have been heard via the WebEx platform, with parties able to appear from remote locations.
“These include bail applications, guilty pleas and Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal hearings.
“Consideration is currently being given to additional matters that may be suitable for hearing online.”
Mr Grimley said expanding the usual 10am-4pm hours was needed as a “matter of urgency”.
“Geelong desperately needs night court,” he said.
“It has worked really well in Melbourne in filtering out bail applications from day-to-day court operations, so other important hearings can be heard.”