Darwin courts: Operating hours for Territory court services to expand this holiday period

Operating hours for court services will expand this holiday season with seven judges operating across the Territory during the festive period. Read the details.

Marie-Clare Boothby speaking in Darwin on Friday, December 20.

Operating hours for court services will expand this holiday season, Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has announced, with seven judges set to operate across the Territory.

Court operations will now be limited between December 23 and January 4, unlike previous years where services were restricted for up to three weeks.

Ms Boothby said four judges will operate in Darwin and three in Alice Springs to prioritise new in custody matters and domestic violence matters.

A further three acting judges from the Territory are set to be appointed and commence duties by the end of January 2025.

Ms Boothby said she is ensuring the Territory court system can “handle the increased demand.” Picture: Thomas McLean

Other key actions announced were increased capacity at Alice Springs Local Court, and lifting the Darwin Local Court prisoner cap.

By lifting the cap, more bail and arrest matters would be able to be heard each day.

Ms Boothby said the changes will assist corrections and police to do their jobs.

“We want to ensure we have the capacity to be able to, and the police to be able to, arrest people and for them to go through the system and work with corrections to ensure that the people that are doing the wrong thing over Christmas are dealt with swiftly,” she said.

“We remain focused on implementing measures that ensure caseloads are managed efficiently.”

Ms Boothby said the CLP was open to increasing the number of judges moving forward.

“Traditionally, the judges’ numbers sat at around 15 to 16, and it varied. Of course, that number is now 20. So that’s a good number,“ she said.

“If we need to get more judges, we’ll get more judges. If we need to open up more courtrooms, we’ll open up more courtrooms. We’ll work with police to ensure that when they are arresting people, that the courts can deal with it and corrections can deal with it.”