# Adjournment length of time involved?



## werner (14 Mar 2008)

I have brought a case against an individual.

The case was to be heard in the circuit court

The individual was given a date since last year that the case was to go ahead recently

The individual asked for an adjournment 2 weeks prior to the case going ahead as they would be unavailable due to being outside of the country 

The judge granted the adjournment with no time advised as to the length of the adjournment.

I believe that I now have to apply for a new court date obviously highlighting that the original case was adjourned.

Two questions:

(1) Is it always as easy to have a case adjourned by saying you are unavailable on a particular date because "you will be out of the country due to prior commitments"

(2) When a case has been granted an adjournment as above, what is the average time that the courts office will give for a date for the next hearing? Is there any urgency granted for a court date since the original was adjourned?

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies


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## csirl (14 Mar 2008)

In my experience, adjournments seem to be given out easily for frivilous reasons. An organisation I worked for had one case where the other side were not interested in proceeding, mainly due to them having no defence, and used every excuse to get the case adjourned at every stage. They succeeded most of the time even in circumstances where it looked to any non-legal person that they were taking the...... totally. Managed to delay the case for more than 4 years before eventually settling in our favour.

Is a case ongoing at the moment involving my current employers whereby the defendants also use the adjourn at every stage tactic - this one has been going on for more than 3 years. 

When I first came across this tactic in the first case above, I assumed that it was because we were dealing with a dishonest person who had no intention of ever wanting to settle unless forced to. However, the second case I mention involves a large reputable organisation whom, for the most part, operate in an honest manner, so I'm beginning to think that this is a tactic advised by lawyers who know their clients have no case. I suppose that if they drag things out forever, there is a chance they will get away with it due to plaintiffs dying, going bust, being bought out, change in circumstances etc.


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## Madangan (14 Mar 2008)

werner said:


> I
> The individual asked for an adjournment 2 weeks prior to the case going ahead as they would be unavailable due to being outside of the country
> 
> The judge granted the adjournment with no time advised as to the length of the adjournment.


 
This seems very strange. A case is almost always adjourned to a specific date either for hearing or for mention (meaning that it is mentioned in court again to keep it in the court list and depending on circumstances will be adjourned again for mention or given a new hearing date).
Other type of adjournment is "generally with liberty to re-enter" but it seems very unlikely that a defendant would get that type of adjournment in the circumstances outlined by you. Did you object to the adjournment? What did the judge say to you? Were you represented in court?.You really need to talk to the court officials for whtever court you were in to clear this up.


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## Ravima (14 Mar 2008)

I would agree with prevuious poster. adjournments are usually specified to either the next sitting of the court or to a sitting at some other nominated court. I have never heard og it been adjourned 'ad infinitum'.


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## werner (15 Mar 2008)

Thank you for the replies. I received the message from my legal rep's secretary. I have never heard of an adjournment being granted without a date being acknowledged before, unless things work differently in Irish law!

If anyone has any experience of similar adjournments or any advice as to what I should ask of my legal rep, please let us know.

Obviously I will be seeking clarification next week when they are back in work.


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## werner (18 Mar 2008)

Madangan said:


> This seems very strange. A case is almost always adjourned to a specific date either for hearing or for mention (meaning that it is mentioned in court again to keep it in the court list and depending on circumstances will be adjourned again for mention or given a new hearing date).
> Other type of adjournment is "generally with liberty to re-enter" but it seems very unlikely that a defendant would get that type of adjournment in the circumstances outlined by you. Did you object to the adjournment? What did the judge say to you? Were you represented in court?.You really need to talk to the court officials for whtever court you were in to clear this up.


 
Would you believe they got an adjournment "with liberty to re-enter" !
Now my legal rep is seeking a date highlighting that the case was granted the above adjournment and to get a new date a.s.a.p.

Anyone have any experience in the length of time the courts will take to provide a new date, is their any expedience provided by the courts with this type of adjournment to provide an early date?

Thanks again for the helpful replies


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## Madangan (18 Mar 2008)

The answer is how long is a piece of string. No one on AAM will be able to answer your question as you have not given sufficient information. But your solicitor(btw and sorry if you think I am being pedantic but the term "my legal rep" is meaningless") is the person you need to ask. Even your solicitor may not be able to give you a definitive answer but he/she will be able to guide you in terms of how long this will take.

I have to say however if you are the plaintiff as suggested in your first post and the other side is the defendant and the defendant sought the adjournment I find it very strange that it was adjourned in this manner without consent. Something does not quite add up.


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## bolle (20 Mar 2008)

in general, it is not that difficult to get an adjournment of a case if you have a good reason. a witness or the defendant being out of the country is more than acceptable. it is quite common for cases to get adjourned a number of times for a number of different reasons. you can of course object but if the other side will be prejudiced, the judge will simply adjourn the case "in the interests of justice".

this of course cannot go on forever. a special date can be fixed for hearing the case if parties have to travel from abroad. the defendant can't simply say they are leaving the country every time a date is set. it will all depend on what is "reasonable". if you think the other side are simply delaying for the sake of delaying, this argument can be made before the judge highlighting all the previous adjournments.

as for the issue of adjourning to a specific date. in the civil circuit court, cases are adjourned back to the circuit court office rather than to a specific date. (this saves people having to turn up on the next day in circumstances where the case is still not ready to proceed). somebody then applies for a new date. 

the reference to "liberty to re-enter" may have meant the above. the other possibility is that the case was struck out but you have liberty to re-enter the case.

in summary, contact the circuit court office, ask for a new date, tell the other side about the new date, tell them you won't be consenting to any further adjournments and hopefully the judge will agree with you!


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## werner (28 Mar 2008)

bolle said:


> in general, it is not that difficult to get an adjournment of a case if you have a good reason. a witness or the defendant being out of the country is more than acceptable. it is quite common for cases to get adjourned a number of times for a number of different reasons. you can of course object but if the other side will be prejudiced, the judge will simply adjourn the case "in the interests of justice".
> 
> this of course cannot go on forever. a special date can be fixed for hearing the case if parties have to travel from abroad. the defendant can't simply say they are leaving the country every time a date is set. it will all depend on what is "reasonable". if you think the other side are simply delaying for the sake of delaying, this argument can be made before the judge highlighting all the previous adjournments.
> 
> ...


 
Bolle, that is a good summary and it concurs with what I have been now told.

 Madangan I do not mind you being pedantic about semantics and appreciate the replys

Thanks all


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