The Chief Magistrate has warned her court will be overloaded by a scheme that will allow family violence victims to obtain emergency court orders after hours.
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Part of the ACT's $21 million plan to curb family violence includes a system of emergency orders that can be applied for outside of the normal court sitting times.
That requires a magistrate to be available after hours every day of the year.
Magistrates are already frequently called on to work after hours to deal with applications for search warrant and forensic procedures, among other things.
But the new family violence emergency order scheme will add significantly to their workload.
Police estimate there will be about 10 emergency order applications a fortnight, and the court estimates each will take between 45 to 60 minutes to complete, mostly during sleeping hours.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker has written to Attorney-General Simon Corbell to warn him the court will struggle to cope with the added responsibility.
She warns she will need to remove the duty magistrate from his or her usual duties to focus solely on the after-hours orders, which will have an impact on delays and the court's backlog.
"This will mean the equivalent of only six magistrates will be available for the regular work of the court … with consequential impacts on the timeliness of matters and capacity to reduce the number of pending cases," Ms Walker said.
Not doing so, she said, could risk the magistrate's ability to make proper decisions.
Ms Walker said she has previously warned of the consequences of adding the emergency orders to the magistrates' workload. "Those concerns have gone unheeded," she said.
Mr Corbell said on Monday he was aware of the court's concerns.
"We will wait and see what the impact is on the courts and, if there is a need for additional resourcing, we will give that further consideration," he said.
Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson raised the issue of the emergency orders and their impact on delays in the Magistrates Court during an estimates hearing on Tuesday.
Mr Hanson asked if a new magistrate would be funded for the court.
"I'm aware that there are resourcing constraints … there are a lot of pressures on that court," Mr Hanson said.
But Mr Corbell said there were no plans to fund a new magistrate. He said the resourcing of the court had been considered by the same independent expert that recommended a fifth full-time judge funded for the ACT Supreme Court.
"The model … has concluded that there is not a need for an additional resident magistrate in the Magistrates Court at this time, and that there are a number of other efficiencies and changes to sitting practice that need to be adopted first," he said.
