How many times can a case be adjourned in Victoria?
There is no set number, and the honest answer is that a case can be adjourned as many times as the court is willing to allow. The power comes from section 331 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic), which lets a court adjourn a criminal proceeding for any purpose, on any terms it thinks appropriate.
That is a broad discretion with no numerical cap written into it, so rather than asking how many adjournments are allowed, the better question is whether each one is justified. In busy criminal lists, a matter being adjourned three, four, or more times over its life is completely ordinary. The number tends to track the seriousness of the charge.
A simple summary matter resolved by a guilty plea might be adjourned only once or twice, whereas a contested summary hearing can involve several dates before it is heard, and a serious indictable case that travels through committal and up to the County Court will typically be adjourned many times across a year or more. None of that reflects a failing in your case, it reflects how many separate steps a criminal proceeding is built from.
Why do cases get adjourned so often?
Because a criminal case has many stages, and each stage often needs its own date. Adjournments are not usually a sign of a problem, they are the mechanism the system uses to move a matter through its steps in an orderly way. Understanding the common reasons takes a lot of the worry out of them, and our guide to the wider path a case follows maps out where each adjournment sits.
Adjournments early in a case
Most early adjournments are about getting ready, and they usually work in your favour. A first mention is very often adjourned so that a person can get legal advice or find a lawyer, because no one should be pushed to resolve a charge before they understand it.
The next common reason is waiting for the brief of evidence, since the defence generally cannot properly advise or negotiate until it has seen what the prosecution actually has. Matters are also adjourned to allow negotiations, which can lead to charges being reduced or dropped before court entirely. Rushing past these steps rarely helps.
Adjournments later in a case
Later adjournments tend to be about preparation and availability. As a matter progresses, it can be adjourned to obtain reports, such as a psychological assessment or a suitability report for a community based order, to allow a diversion assessment, or to arrange the attendance of witnesses.
Contested matters are adjourned from a contest mention to a hearing date, and serious indictable matters are adjourned through the committal process. On top of all this, courts sometimes have to adjourn matters themselves simply because there is no courtroom or judicial officer available on the day, a reality of a heavily loaded system.
How does a court decide whether to grant an adjournment?
The court weighs the interests of justice, and it is a genuine balancing exercise, not a rubber stamp. A court will generally not refuse an adjournment where doing so would cause injustice to the accused or risk denying a fair trial, but it weighs that against any irreparable prejudice granting it would cause the other side, and against the public interest in cases being dealt with promptly.
Crucially, the court expects a real reason backed by evidence, so a request based on illness needs proper medical material, not a vague note, and a request for more time needs to explain what the time is genuinely for. The stronger and better-supported the reason, the more likely the adjournment.
A useful way to picture it is a set of scales. On one side sits the risk of unfairness if the adjournment is refused, such as a person being forced to run a hearing without the evidence or without a lawyer. On the other sits the cost of granting it, including delay, the strain on witnesses who have prepared to give evidence, and the wider public interest in cases being finalised.
Early in a case those scales usually favour granting time, while on the morning of a long-listed hearing, with witnesses waiting, a court will look far more critically at a late request.
Can a court refuse an adjournment?
Yes, and courts increasingly do where a request looks weak or tactical. The discretion in section 331 cuts both ways, so a court that is not satisfied there is a good reason can refuse and require the matter to proceed.
It is also worth understanding that the prosecution cannot simply grant your adjournment for you, because the decision is the court’s alone, and a prosecutor at most can say they do not oppose it. Where a party has caused unnecessary delay, a court can attach terms to an adjournment, and in some circumstances that can include a costs consequence, so repeated, poorly justified requests carry real risk.
This is one of many reasons that having a lawyer make the application, with a proper reason and any supporting evidence, matters.
If an adjournment is refused, the case simply proceeds, which can mean a hearing running that day whether or not a party feels fully ready, so a refusal is not a technicality but a real consequence.
There is a further trap for anyone who thinks skipping court will force a delay: if you fail to appear, a summary matter can sometimes be heard and decided in your absence, and a warrant can be issued, which is a far worse position than asking for a proper adjournment. The lesson is that an adjournment is something you request and justify, never something you take by not turning up.
How do you actually ask for an adjournment?
You apply to the court, as early as you can, and you still turn up. The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria asks that an application to change a date be made as soon as possible, and generally at least three working days before the hearing, either through your lawyer or, if you are self-represented, using the court’s request for adjournment form.
One point trips people up more than any other: if you are on bail, you must physically attend on your court date to ask for the adjournment, because simply not showing up is a separate and serious problem, not a way of postponing. If you have missed a date, contact the registrar immediately rather than leaving it. People representing themselves in the Magistrates’ Court often find this process harder than expected, which is another reason to have representation.
In practice, many adjournments are sought by consent, where both sides agree there is a sensible reason and simply ask the court to fix a new date, which the court will usually accept if the reason is genuine.
Others are decided on the spot when something is not ready on the day. Either way, the court still has the final say, so it helps to have the reason clearly explained and any paperwork, such as a medical certificate or confirmation that the brief is outstanding, ready to hand up.
Are lots of adjournments a bad sign?
Usually not, though it depends on why they are happening. Several adjournments across the life of a case is normal and often beneficial, because the time is being used to get advice, review evidence, negotiate, and prepare, all of which can improve your outcome. Delay can genuinely help, for example where it allows a weak charge to fall away or a person to demonstrate rehabilitation before a plea.
It can also hurt, particularly where someone is on remand and every adjournment means more time in custody, which is why bail and case progress are so connected, as our guide on bail after being remanded explains. The point is not to fear adjournments, but to make sure each one has a purpose.
Sometimes a change of representation itself causes an adjournment, and our guide on switching lawyers mid-case covers how to manage that without losing ground.
What matters is the direction of travel, not the count, because a case that is adjourned five times but is steadily gathering evidence, narrowing the issues, and moving toward a resolution is in far better shape than one adjourned twice with nothing happening in between.
What should you do about adjournments in your case?
Treat each adjournment as an opportunity, not just a delay, because a short pause with a clear purpose is worth far more than a long one with none. Ask your lawyer why the matter is being adjourned, what the time will be used for, and whether the delay is helping or hurting you, so that you are steering the case rather than drifting through it.
Turn up to every date if you are on bail, give genuine reasons supported by evidence when you need more time, and keep preparing between hearings. And if you are in custody rather than on bail, remember that every adjournment is more time behind bars, which is why a strong bail application can matter as much as pushing the case forward.
If your matter keeps being adjourned and you are unsure whether it is going in the right direction, or you want someone to push it forward with purpose, speak with a criminal defence lawyer, so every adjournment in your case is working toward the best possible outcome rather than simply passing time.
