NOTICE TO LEGAL PRACTITIONERS, POLICE, CORRECTIONS and COURT USERS REGARDING LOCAL COURT PROCEEDINGS
Criminal matters
Circuit (Bush) Courts
Civil Lists including domestic and family violence applications
Interpreters
Physical Court facilities
Electronic filing
Virtual Court facilities
The Local Court’s role in the justice system of the Northern Territory has always relied on the work and cooperation of legal practitioners, police, correctional services and other government agencies, on an individual level and at agency level. I thank you all for your continued cooperation and patience as we improve our procedures to meet changing circumstances. The change in border rules has meant a much larger cohort of people involved in the Justice system in the Northern Territory have now either tested positive for COVID-19 or are a close contact of someone who has. All services will have shortages of staff for periods of time, often with very little notice. The following arrangements for the Local Court attempt to reduce the risk to users of the Court, limit the spread of the virus where possible and allow the Court to continue to service the community.
The general principle of these arrangements is:
To maintain open justice, access to justice and continuity of justice services whilst managing risk to staff, services and the community.
The arrangements seek to reduce the number of persons required to appear in Court facilities in person, reduce the number of times a matter is mentioned prior to finalisation and reduce the administrative burden of various court applications.
This notice should be read in conjunction with the Local Court Virtual Court Guide, which contains details and forms for appearing by video or telephone in the Local Court
Criminal matters
Appearances by Counsel
All Counsel have leave to appear via video or telephone, should they wish to do so. Video is preferred but if unavailable, telephone appearances are permissible. It is the practitioner’s responsibility to contact the relevant Court registry with their contact details. Details about this are available in the Local Court Virtual Court Guide, which is available on the Local Court website www.localcourt.nt.gov.au. Counsel may appear in person if they wish, but should maintain social distancing practices and abide by any mask mandate in place.
Legally represented Defendants on bail, summons or notice to appear
If a defendant is represented and Counsel has recent instructions and an ability to contact their client, physical appearances at any Court are excused if the matter is not to be finalised. Defendants may attend via video or telephone if they wish but contact details must be provided in advance of the mention.
Pleas may be entered by Counsel for minor complaint matters where the penalty is a financial one without the defendant’s presence via video or telephone.
Unrepresented or self-represented Defendants
If a party is unrepresented, leave is granted to appear by video or telephone on the first occasion. An unrepresented person may indicate a plea of guilty in writing or by email and have the matter dealt with in their absence if the matter is minor and carries only a financial penalty. Should a matter not be able to be finalised in writing, the Court will advise of any future date. However it remains the responsibility of the Defendant to contact the Court to find out the outcome of their matter.
If the matter is not finalised further leave to appear via video or phone will be considered for the next occasion by the Court. A party seeking to appear by video or phone must contact the relevant local court Registry to arrange this.
No appearance
Should a Defendant not be represented by Counsel, nor have made any contact with the Court registry to arrange a video or telephone appearance or enter a plea of guilty in writing, they will be deemed not to have appeared, and the normal legal consequences may apply. These include dealing with the case in the defendant’s absence, issuing a warrant of arrest and forfeiting any bail.
Court Cells
The number of defendants permitted to be in custody in Court Cells has already been reduced, pursuant to COVID-19 directions. Appearances of defendants in custody after their first appearance will be via video or telephone where video is not available. Only defendants required to attend their final contested hearing of a matter will be brought to a Court house.
Arrangements for people in custody of either the Police or Corrections may be changed at short notice both for individuals and as a result of further development of covid planning by those Agencies. It is possible that the Court Cells will be closed at short notice.
First mention of “in custody” matters
If a defendant in custody is unable to attend Court by video or telephone due to quarantine requirements, their matter will still be mentioned in Court at the first available opportunity, so that there is a record in the Court of their custody. These matters should be adjourned to a date when the defendant would be in a position to instruct a lawyer. At the time of publishing of this Notice, Corrections have not provided their current arrangements and timetable for testing and isolation. These arrangements will be distributed when known.
Hearings
Witnesses from other places will be granted leave to appear via video, where those facilities exist. A virtual appearance notification with relevant details must be provided in advance of the hearing. Should giving evidence by video be objected to by either party, application by the objecting party should be made to relist the matter before a Judge for an in person order.
Defendants in custody will be brought to the Court if the matter is proceeding as a contested hearing, unless unable to attend because of isolation requirements. If the matter settles prior to the hearing date, the Court should be notified so that a video call-up can be arranged.
Oral Preliminary Examinations
Witnesses will generally be granted leave to appear via video or telephone. Defendants will also appear via video from the prison.
Circuit (Bush) Courts
Circuit Courts will be dealt with on a case by case basis. A short meeting (on TEAMS) of key stakeholders will be held weekly to discuss the next week’s circuit court and any practical issues. This meeting will be convened by the Chief Judge or a Deputy Chief Judge.
Should a circuit court be cancelled, this meeting will be advised of how matters listed for that circuit shall be dealt with.
Legal practitioners and prosecutors are encouraged to progress matters where possible. Arrangements can be made for appearances on minor matters by telephone.
Childrens Court
Apart from their first appearance, youth, when represented, should not attend court unless the matter is expected to finalise or otherwise ordered by the Court. They may appear via video or telephone if the matter is to be finalised, unless otherwise ordered.
All youth in detention are to appear via video.
The court and registry will be encouraging the use of video and telephone communication. Responsible adults may appear via video or telephone.
All fresh paperwork, charges, reports etc. must be submitted via email and not handed to registry staff. These documents can be emailed to Darwin.ChildrensCourt [at] nt.gov.au or to Alice Springs AS.ChildrensCourt [at] nt.gov.au
Care and Protection Lists
Practitioners, caseworkers and parents may appear via video or telephone in the Care and Protection list. Contact should be made with the registry to provide contact details.
Civil Lists including domestic and family violence applications
All Counsel have leave to appear via video or telephone. Video is preferred but if unavailable, telephone appearances can be arranged. It is the practitioner’s responsibility to contact the relevant Court registry with their contact details. Details about this are available in the Local Court Virtual Court Guide, which is available on the Local Court website www.localcourt.nt.gov.au. Counsel may appear in person if they wish, but should maintain social distancing practices and abide by any mask mandate in place.
Civil and Work Health hearings will proceed with witnesses to appear via video or telephone (if appropriate). Please contact the Court registry not less than 48 hours prior to your hearing to confirm arrangements for all witnesses appearing remotely.
Self -represented parties in Civil, Work Health and Applicants, Protected Persons and Defendants in Domestic Violence and Personal Violence applications are encouraged to appear via video or telephone. Parties wishing to attend electronically should contact the Court registry with their contact details at least one business day prior to their court appearance.
Defendants in the Specialist Approach Domestic and Family Violence list in Alice Springs are strongly encouraged to attend via video, rather than telephone, if they are not able to attend in person.
For Civil and Work Heath matters listed before the Judicial Registrar in the conference room at Darwin, standing leave to attend via TEAMS will be extended to Conciliation, Directions and Settlement Conferences for all participants. Should parties wish to participate in Conciliation, Directions or Settlement Conferences in person please advise registry not less than 1 day prior, to ensure social distancing practices can be maintained.
A practice direction allowing electronic filing is available on the Local Court website www.localcourt.nt.gov.au
Interpreters
Interpreters may appear via video or telephone if video is unavailable. Contact details should be included in the virtual appearance notification by the party requiring the interpreter.
Physical Court facilities
The Local Courts have made hand sanitiser available and put signage in courtrooms about hygiene and social distancing. QR codes should be scanned by all those who enter the Court facilities, or details left in the register. Seats are being spaced further apart where possible.
Court services are essential services. Thus they can be accessed by both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons. However unvaccinated persons, in the event of a lockout or lockdown, will be refused entry if they themselves are not accessing the services of the Court. Any other Chief Health Officer Direction, such as a mask mandate, must be adhered to.
A screening document directing people who may answer affirmatively to any of the risk questions has been placed at the entrance to each of the Courts. This directs people to not enter the building, contact their health provider and to contact the Court registry by telephone if they were required to attend court.
Large numbers of people will not be permitted to remain in Court rooms or Court buildings. Members of the public not required to attend Court for a matter, and who are not media representatives, will be asked to leave if their presence means that the recommended limits on public gatherings are exceeded.
Electronic filing
The Courts will accept and encourage electronic filing in all jurisdictions. For email addresses please see the COVID-19 Practice Direction 2020 available on the Local Court website, www.localcourt.nt.gov.au
Virtual Court facilities
For how to appear electronically please see the NT Local Court Virtual Court Guide, available on the Local Court website www.localcourt.nt.gov.au
The Court is unable to facilitate private bookings of video facilities, including for Court appearances outside the Northern Territory.
Accredited media who wish to access specific Court proceedings virtually should contact the Court’s public relations officer to make arrangements.
This notice may be updated from time to time.
Notice# 1/2022
Released 17 January 2022.
Elizabeth Morris
Chief Judge
Northern Territory Local Court
Nichols Place
Cnr Cavenagh and Bennett Street
Darwin NT 0800