Pine Rivers Magistrates Court: what to expect

The name, and why it matters

There is no suburb called Pine Rivers. The name comes from the former Pine Rivers Shire, and the court that carries the name sits at 374 Gympie Road, Strathpine. People searching for a Pine Rivers courthouse address and finding nothing are not doing anything wrong, the name and the location simply do not match.

The legislative position is worth knowing if anyone tells you your matter is in the wrong court. Schedule 1 of the Justices Regulation 2014 (Qld) defines the Caboolture Magistrates Courts District as the former Caboolture Shire and the former Pine Rivers Shire together, and names the places for holding Magistrates Courts in that district as Caboolture, Petrie and Strathpine. So a matter can properly be listed at either Caboolture or Strathpine within the one district.

Charges laid around Strathpine, Bray Park, Lawnton, Petrie, Kallangur, Murrumba Downs, Albany Creek, Warner and Eatons Hill are ordinarily listed here.

Getting there

The courthouse is on Gympie Road at Strathpine, on the ground floor of the complex. Strathpine railway station is served by the Redcliffe Peninsula line and the Springfield line, and there is a separate Strathpine bus station, with routes including the 358 to Chermside Interchange and the 670 to Strathpine and Warner Village.

Queensland Courts publishes no parking information for this courthouse and neither does the City of Moreton Bay, so we are not going to state any. Treat it as a busy arterial road location, allow time, and read the signs wherever you park.

Wednesday is the short day at the registry, closing at 4:00pm instead of 4:30pm.

Reading the list at Pine Rivers

The daily law list is published on the Queensland Courts website and updated at 6:45am and again at 8:45am each day. The list itself carries the registry number and tells you to ring it if your matter does not appear.

The court's published listing arrangements put criminal and traffic matters at 9:00am daily, excluding public holidays and court closure periods. Other lists have their own times: special hardship order applications, the miscellaneous callover and Peace and Good Behaviour Act matters at 11:00am, and the child protection callover and Court Link callover at 2:00pm. The domestic violence callover, youth justice callover and Commonwealth matters sit at 9:00am.

Urgent domestic violence applications are dealt with daily at 2:00pm, or as the court directs. If you are seeking or responding to an urgent protection order, that is the listing you are looking for, and it is an afternoon one.

What actually happens at a mention

A first mention is short and administrative. The magistrate establishes what you are charged with, whether you have a lawyer, whether you have the police material and what you want to do next. It is not the day you run your defence.

You are not obliged to enter a plea at a first mention. Asking for an adjournment to get legal advice is a normal and proper request, and it is granted routinely the first time. Pleading guilty on the first date because you want it over with is the single most common avoidable mistake made in a Magistrates Court, and it is very hard to undo.

• Arrive by 8:15am for a 9:00am listing. Security takes time.
• Bring your notice to appear and any correspondence.
• Ask the prosecutor for your QP9, or have the duty lawyer get it for you.
• Do not plead until you have read it. The charge on the notice and the facts police allege are two different documents.
• Plan for the whole morning, even for a two minute appearance.

Clothes, phones and conduct

Neat and covered. No singlets, thongs, hats or sunglasses inside. Cover offensive slogans.

Phones on silent or off. No recording, no photographs of the list or the courtroom, nothing posted online about the matter. Recording proceedings without permission is an offence.

Address the magistrate as Your Honour. Stand when you speak. Bow your head slightly entering and leaving. If you are not sure, watch the matter before yours.

The duty lawyer at Pine Rivers

Legal Aid Queensland runs a criminal duty lawyer service here, covering the adult court and the Childrens Court, and publishes a quarterly roster across Monday to Friday. Ask at the counter as soon as you arrive.

The numbers printed on the Legal Aid roster for this court are Legal Aid Duty Lawyer Services on (07) 3917 0404 and Legal Aid Caboolture on (07) 5293 2010. Childrens Court matters are handled by Youth Legal Aid on 1800 527 527. General legal information is on 1300 65 11 88.

Court Link operates from this building with its own contact details, and unusually its phone number carries a Caboolture prefix rather than the registry's. Court Link is a support and referral program, not a legal representative.

If you are late or cannot get there

Ring the registry on (07) 3094 4700. A matter can usually be stood down to later in the morning if the court knows why you are not there. If it does not, you risk a warrant.

Failing to appear is treated as its own problem, separate from the charge that brought you. It affects bail, it affects how the court views you at sentence, and it makes everything afterwards harder.

If you have a court date and have not spoken to anyone, the first fifteen minutes by phone with us cost nothing. Call 07 5522 5777.