The snooze button is about to be hit on civil disputes, litigation and property and estate settlements in Queensland.
The state's court system is scaling back operations and non-urgent proceedings such as civil action and litigation in the Magistrate's Court will be parked for three months from Monday.
The District Court has suspended the practice of all civil applications being listed on a particular for 10am. Hearings will be staggered.
Former Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said some aspects of the court system will come to a "screaming halt"- even divorce settlements.
"There are a lot of people who may be waiting for a settlement, a personal injury claim or an estate claim and now they are all frozen," he said.
"Civil matters delayed, means those who rightly need compensation to get medical assistance can't get on with their lives."
He said the delays were understandable given the health crisis but it will be to the financial detriment of some who can least afford it.
The delay in cases comes as Legal Aid Queensland suspends face-to-face duty lawyer services.
LAQ emailed practitioners on Wednesday of the change amid the coronavirus outbreak and it comes as Queensland Magistrate courts adjourn all non-urgent hearings and self-represented matters for three months from Monday.
"The duty solicitor scheme literally provides front end advice to people who are effectively the most vulnerable and these people now can't get timely independent legal advice," Mr Potts said.
"The magistrates are going to have to work as hard as they can to ensure a person's rights are not affected and they will do a good job, I have no doubt about that.
"Often they have to explain everything to the person in the dock, often with language incomprehension difficulties."
Australian Associated Press
