Once a hearing date has been changed, whom must the judge notify, and when must that notice reach them?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice file, we read the application asking for a change or the judge's own note of the reason, the document recording the new date, and the notice papers and service records showing when notice of the changed date went to the offender, the victim and the assistant.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading follows the provision step by step: the judge may change the hearing date either on the judge's own initiative or on an application, and only the family violence offender or the assistant may apply, not the victim; once the date is changed, notifying the offender, the victim and the assistant of the changed date is a duty, since the provision says it 'shall' be notified.
Another reading notes what the provision does not fix: it sets no method and no deadline for that notice, and it does not say what follows if notice did not reach the victim before the changed date fell, so the provision leaves the timing of the notice itself open.
Your judgment
If the changed hearing date passed before notice reached the victim, how could the file show when that notice was made and what effect it had on the proceedings?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to set a method or a deadline for notifying a changed hearing date, or if a court decision states what follows when notice did not reach a party before the new date.