If you are unable to appear in court on the day of your hearing, you may be able to postpone it. This is called adjournment. If you have a lawyer, you should ask your lawyer to ask for an adjournment on your behalf. You must contact the court where your case was to be heard and speak to a clerk. If it is an emergency and you cannot come forward yourself to ask for the adjournment, but you wish to send someone on your behalf, you must give that person written permission to make the request on your behalf. This person must submit the written power of attorney to the court. It is also possible that the defendant in your case will make requests to return home to retrieve personal belongings or to have parental leave with your common children. Defendants who wish to request an adjournment must contact the prosecutor to obtain consent to an adjournment. The defendant must then submit a written request to the court containing a justification for the request for an adjournment of the proceedings, as well as a statement as to whether or not the prosecutor`s consent has been obtained. For more information on adjournments, see the Criminal Procedure Act 2009, the Civil Procedure Act 2010 and the Courts of First Instance Act 1989.
The judge may dismiss the request for adjournment. If the request is denied, you will be marked as defective, which can be serious. You can learn more about this and other housing court proceedings by reading our legal and procedural information sections. The person who comes to court for you must bring this statement and any other documents you have received and should be able to inform the case officer of the reason for the request. In a situation of extreme urgency where neither you nor anyone else can appear on your behalf, you can write a letter to the court. You must explain why you are filing the application and be sure to include the file number, the year of your case, the scheduled date of the hearing you will not be able to attend, and the room and room number in which your case is scheduled. To request an adjournment, a defence lawyer or prosecutor must contact the opposing party to obtain consent to the adjournment of the proceedings. The applicant must then submit to the court a provision and an order setting out the reasons for his request for adjournment of the proceedings. You must ask the court hearing your case for an adjournment and explain why. This should be done as soon as possible. Details of your hearing date can be found in your court documents.
You can also check your hearing date by visiting the Find a hearing date page. If you know before your hearing date that you need more time to prepare your case or talk to a lawyer, you can ask the court to give you a later date. You should call your county`s domestic violence service and let them know you want a later hearing date. To find the domestic violence unit number in your district, visit the New Jersey Courts website. Go to “Dishes” in the navigation bar and select your country. You will be redirected to your district court`s website. Then select “Registries/Divisions/Family Departments”. You can find the phone number for the domestic violence department on your county family department website. Some counties allow you to accept deferral requests directly over the phone, while others ask you to send a fax/email in a written request.
If your district requests a letter, be sure to verify the name, fax number and address of the court staff to whom you should address your application. Postponement requests are discouraged, but will be considered for good cause. A request for postponement received less than 48 hours before the scheduled procedure will not be considered, unless there is a demonstrable urgency. You should limit your requests to items that cannot wait until your return date. You can apply for relief for non-urgent matters – such as paying medical bills resulting from misuse or returning furniture – on your new hearing date if you get a final restraining order. Start preparing for your trial as soon as you have received an adjournment and a new hearing date has been assigned to you. If you have requested an adjournment to obtain a lawyer, take steps to find one. Applying for legal help can take some time. It is important that you seek help as soon as possible.
Contact the people you want to testify on your behalf and find out when they are available. Find out if police or other witnesses need a subpoena.