And the accused who are on remand will spend longer in prisons awaiting bail applications.
Victoria’s magistrate courts will partially shut down from 9am Tuesday, March 31, with an automatic three-month adjournment to hundreds of listings.
All criminal hearings across the state’s magistrates’ courts, except filing hearings, committal mentions, and committal hearings, will be adjourned until June 15.
For all summons or bail matters, the accused won't need to attend filing hearings, provided they are represented by a lawyer.
Civil matters have been directed not to attend court, while contested committal hearings and Koori court have been suspended.
While the directions have been widely praised by lawyers as a sensible step in protecting people, the move could still cause three-year-long delays.
Echuca lawyer Kate Freshwater said there was no doubt the measures would create delay.
“There will be a huge backlog seeing us all play catch up at some point in the future,” she said.
“Having said that, the delay is unavoidable if we are to take the risks posed to court users seriously and prioritise the health and safety of all those involved in the criminal justice system.
“Naturally my clients, particularly those in custody, are anxious about how the delays will affect their cases.
“While delay is relevant to any bail application, there will be people who spend longer in custody on remand than they would otherwise, in what have already become more difficult conditions with all personal visits being suspended until further notice and likely only to become harsher still if the virus leads to lockdowns in prisons.”
However, Ms Freshwater said courts were increasing their use of technology such as video-links and implementing other ways of keeping matters progressing where possible.
“If there is any positive at all to come from this situation it may be that some aspects of the court’s systems can be improved and pave the way for increased use of technology and efficiency in the future,” she said.
Victoria Legal Aid Loddon-Campaspe regional office acting managing lawyer Majella Foster-Jones said over the past fortnight, all parts of the justice system throughout the Loddon Campaspe area had worked hard to develop new ways of working to ensure services continue throughout the region.
“The court has very sensibly adjourned non-urgent matters until mid-June, when hopefully they can be more safely conducted,” she said.
“Once we are able to resume more standard operations, VLA’s primary focus will be on ensuring our clients will be able to access justice.
“It will continue to take co-operation across the justice sector to do that and I’m confident that will happen.”
Ms Foster-Jones said the impact of delay for the justice system would be significant.
“For most of our clients, this means a longer wait for their matter to be resolved, but we’re aware for some matters there is more urgency,” she said.
“In priority areas like remand - people in custody awaiting trial - people facing family violence, or children in need of protection, these clients often require immediate assistance and during a period of social isolation, the risks they face can be heightened.
“It’s situations like this that we will use available technology to ensure client safety and wellbeing is paramount.
“Principally, we have moved to conduct as much work as possible over the phone, or by videoconference. We’ve stopped taking requests for help in person at our offices around Victoria.
“We’re still offering help via our Legal Help phone and online chat services across the state.”
While the Echuca court remains open, anyone who does not have business there is no longer allowed to enter the building.A Victoria Magistrates Court spokesperson said all non-urgent the adjournments of criminal matters were moved to allow magistrates to focus on matters that can't be adjourned, including bail and remand, family violence and personal safety applications and breaches, and the issuing of warrants.“The court is also utilising technology as much as possible to further reduce person-to-person contact and protect the health and wellbeing of judicial officers, staff, stakeholders and court users,” the spokesperson said.
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