A continuation is a delay in a legal proceeding, often requested due to new evidence or incapacity. Judges grant continuations if necessary for a fair trial, but avoid prolonging trials or allowing harassment. Parties are notified of the delay and when to return to court.
A continuation is a postponement of a judicial proceeding. There are a number of reasons why a break may be requested, ranging from temporary incapacity by the judge to the need to deal with surprise information that comes up during the trial. In some regions of the world, the circumstances in which a continuation request will be granted are limited due to laws designed to guarantee access to expedited trials.
Sometimes, a judge orders prosecution without consulting either party involved. Most commonly, one of the people involved in the trial files a deferment motion with the judge, explaining that a stay is required and giving reasons. Requests will be granted if it is clear that rescheduling is needed in the interests of equity.
Some reasons a continuation may be necessary include: the need to deal with new evidence or a new witness; incapacity in a member of the legal team; inability to access evidence or a witness; intense press coverage that could interfere with the process; and, in civil cases, the absence of one of the parties involved. The request can be filed by an attorney or directly by one of the parties, and several companies have sample prosecution requests that people can use to make sure their letters are formatted and presented correctly.
A judge will grant a stay if it is evidence that the stay is necessary to allow for a fair trial. If an adjournment is refused, people may later argue that the trial has been compromised, so judges are very careful with the refusal and take the time to consider how continuation might be viewed if the trial is challenged. However, judges want to avoid allowing harassment and standoff tactics to continue, as they can prolong a trial and significantly increase trial costs.
When a prosecution request is granted, everyone involved in the case is notified. The notification informs people that there is an outage and informs people when they need to return to court. In some cases, the length of the outage may be unclear due to factors beyond everyone’s control, in which case people may be asked to double check to find out when the process will resume. For example, if someone needs continuation to get a new lawyer, he has the right to take the time to find an appropriate lawyer.
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