The Magistrate was not Very Happy That His Buttons were being Pushed.

The Magistrate was sitting at the Bench in Courtroom 8 and you could tell by his Demeanour that he was not very Happy.

The Defendant had been advised by his Legal Advisor to adjourn the Intervention Order application against him to a contested Hearing.



Where is your legal advisor, why is he not at Court Today asked The Magistrate????. I have been advised to adjourn the Matter to a contested Hearing Your Honor replied The Defendant.
My Buttons are being Pushed replied the Magistrate in a Harsh Tone. I expected him to be here today to finalise this Matter, by not appearing today, he is not only doing a Disservice to you as his Client, but also Doing a Disservice to this Court as well.

It was obvious the Magistrate at a Magistrate's Court in Melbourne didn't want the Matter to go to a Contested Hearing because the case would have to be adjourned to a half day contest, over 4 Months away.

What The Magistrate really wanted was for the Defendant to push the Easy Button by consenting to the Intervention Order without admission to the Allegations. This Would save the Court's Time.


 As another Magistrate also said at this same Victorian Magistrate's Court, Do we need to get Bogged Down In a Contested Hearing, this statement by The Magistrate meant he didn't want to spend time Listening to Evidence in a Contested Hearing.

Intervention Orders are a civil Matter, where in the majority of cases there has been no investigation by the Police into The Allegations Made. The Only Thing that "Complainants" need to do is go to a Magistrate's Court and see the Court Registrar and Fill in a Form with Their List of Allegations. The Registrar is supposed to look at the Allegations and Ascertain whether there are Grounds For Issuing an Interim Intervention Order.

I Have heard Court Registrar's say that they are not interested in what the allegations are, and that it is up to the Magistrate to make a decision on The Merits of the Applicant's Allegations as to whether a final Intervention Order is Granted. The Problem is Magistrate's simply want Defendants to Immediately Consent to The Order Without Admission to The allegations and without Hearing Any Evidence at all, Then you have a Final Intervention Order issued by a court without any real Judgement or investigation as to whether the Order is really Necessary Under The Circumstances.

This Is Simply Sausage Machine Justice and there is virtually no Possibility of an applicant making False Allegations being Charged With Perjury. There is no Charge To Make an application for an Intervention Order and you are Virtually Guaranteed an Intervention Order given The attitude of Court Staff. One Senior Magistrate said to an applicant, you have listed a Series Of Facts in Your Statement of Complaint, so The Magistrate had automatically accepted the allegations as fact without any evidence being tested in the Court.

In another Intervention Order Case Heard in Courtroom 8, The applicant was the Estranged Wife Of The Defendant who had decided to Contest The Final Order.

 The Application was heard just Before Christmas and the Wife's Female Barrister said to The Defendant, Well You're going to have a very lonely Christmas. Which Meant if The Defendant didn't agree to The order without admission he wouldn't see his Kids During Christmas.



To Contest The order it would Cost the Defendant $1500 in Legal Fees. The Magistrate said to the Defendant, Surely there are Other ways you could Spend The $1500. You Don't Need to Be within 200 Metres of Your Estranged Wife's Home and you Won't Breech The Order asked The Magistrate. No was the Reply From The Defendant but I still want to Contest The Final Order.

The Magistrate had tried to talk the Defendant out of Going to a contested hearing and reluctantly turned to His Clerk and sighed, When is The Next Available Hearing Date.You have to ask yourself, If The Magistrate was Convinced that The Defendant was not going to go within 200 Metres Of His Estranged Wife's Home and was not going to Breech the Order, Why didn't The Magistrate just Strike out The Application???.

I have heard Barrister's say To Their Clients, this may be a ridiculous application for an Intervention Order but just Consent to The Order and save Yourself time and Money, because it will be around 4 Months Until The Contested Hearing could be heard, the Interim Order will Remain Until Then and the Courts Usually grant an Order for 12 Months, so take the easier and Cheaper Option and Consent to the Order without admission.

So you really have only 2 Options as a defendant, Either Consent to The Intervention Order Without Admission or spend a lot of Money to Contest The Order. As One Defense Barrister Described them, Intervention Order's are at The Arse End of The Legal System in Victorian Magistrate's Courts.