Innisfail Court House

Well, that was an interesting way to spend a few hours in Innisfail on a Monday morning. I took myself to court. I was researching a journalism assignment in the library last week and found a book on court reporting, which is something we have to do later in our training. I thought that as I've got the week off and didn't have to drive to Townsville for uni, I'd go and have a look at how things worked here in Innisfail.

I sat in on the Magistrates Court, the first tier of Queensland's court system where the less serious offences are dealt with such as traffic infringements and minor drug cases. When I did my ambulance training many years ago we had to attend Coroners Court and the District Court in Brisbane to watch the proceedings there but this was my first time in the Magistrates Court. 

Most of the sessions are open to the public. If you want to go and have a look, the dates are listed on the Queensland Courts website under Court calenders. When you get there just tell the security staff that you're a member of the public who wants to watch a court case and they'll show you where to go. Dress appropriately, turn your phone off and if the magistrate is in the court when you enter or leave, you're expected to give a nod of the head and shoulders towards the bench.

One of the reporters from the local paper was in court and I'm interested in seeing how the cases I saw are reported in Wednesday's paper.