The management team at Newcastle District Registry and County Court have announced a range of Counter Service changes that will come into effect from 1st April 2019.
An appointment only system running between the hours of 10:00 am and 2:00 pm for routine matters will be introduced. Court users attending with a query who do not have an appointment between these hours will be offered the next available slot either the same day or another day if they are unable to wait. However, if they are attending to submit an urgent application, such as an application to suspend a warrant of eviction, they will be dealt with on an urgent basis.
High Court, Listing and Urgent Queries
Whilst the main public counter area will be closed after 2:00 pm daily, there will be a phone available at reception on the Ground Floor so that any court user with a High Court, listing and urgent query can contact a member of staff to deal with them. A specific phone line has been identified with each team to deal with all calls from reception.
Future Hearing Dates
There will also be a "counsel only" phone available on the 1st Floor to enable those representatives to contact the listing team if they require a listing date prior to or immediately after their court hearing between the hours of 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm. Listing queries will be dealt with as usual via the public counter between the hours of 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.
Drop Box Facility
There will also be a drop box facility for the lodging of non-urgent applications and general correspondence on the Ground Floor next to the public lifts. This facility will be available to court users for the time that the court building remains open.
Bundles
There will also be a facility made available for court users to drop bundles off at the Crown Court counter between the hours of 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm. It is being encouraged that all bundles are dropped off within the County Court public counter opening hours.