Adjourned means the hearing has been put off to another time. It can mean a short break of an hour, a move to later the same day, or a postponement to a new date weeks away. The case has not ended, and nothing has been decided about guilt or sentence. If you were on bail, you remain on bail on the same conditions unless the court changes them.
Why hearings are adjourned
- A report is not ready, most often a pre-sentence report before sentence.
- Evidence has not been served, or the prosecution needs more time to obtain it.
- A witness is unavailable or has not attended.
- A defendant is unwell, has not attended, or is unrepresented and needs time to get a solicitor.
- An interpreter has not arrived.
- The courtroom is needed for another case, or the judge has run out of time.
- A plea has changed and sentence must be prepared for.
Words that mean something similar
- Adjourned: postponed to a later time or date, with the case still live.
- Vacated: the date has been cancelled, usually before the day, and a new one will be fixed. You do not need to attend the vacated date.
- Ineffective trial: a trial that could not start on the day it was listed, for example because a witness did not attend. It is re-listed.
- Cracked trial: a trial that did not need to go ahead because the defendant pleaded guilty on the day or the prosecution dropped the case. The case is not re-listed as a trial.
- Stood down: put back until later the same day.
- Adjourned sine die: adjourned without a date. Rare in criminal cases; usually the court or the parties must apply to re-list.
- Discontinued or dismissed: the case has ended. That is not an adjournment.
What happens next
The court usually fixes the new date at the time of adjourning and tells you in the courtroom. If not, you will get a letter, and your solicitor will be notified by the court. Check with your solicitor within a few days if you have heard nothing. If you were a witness, the Witness Care Unit will contact you with the new date.
Can I ask for an adjournment?
Yes, through your solicitor, and the earlier the better. The court will want a reason and may want evidence, for example a medical certificate or proof of a booked commitment. Adjournments are not granted automatically, and asking on the morning of the hearing without a good reason is unlikely to succeed. Courts are especially reluctant to adjourn trials.
Bail and custody
If you are on bail, the same conditions continue until the new date unless the judge varies them. If you are in custody, the adjournment does not change that unless a bail application is made and granted. Custody time limits apply to how long someone can be held before trial, and an adjournment that would exceed them needs a specific decision.
What the daily list shows
An adjourned case is simply removed from the day's list or marked as adjourned in the live status. Nothing about the reason is published. The new hearing appears on the list for its new date in the usual way.
This is general information for England and Wales, not legal advice. Speak to a solicitor about your own case.