Fly on the wall: What happens in one morning at Ringwood’s main courthouse?

A clock on the wall edges toward noon on an overcast Thursday in an east Melbourne courtroom.

Adjournments and directions hearings have come and gone with little fanfare in Ringwood Magistrates’ Court’s Courtroom One.

A young man in low-hanging shorts enters, headphones in, whispering under his breath.

A minute later, his matter is called. He blurts out remarks to the Magistrate, including: “This should have been thrown out before I was ever charged”.

The Magistrate quickly adjourns his case to a contest hearing in July, attracting further mutterings – “F*** me”, “whatever”, “useless court system”.

Finished in five minutes, a snapshot of a common frustration – that the court system is slow and bureaucratic.

⏱️ Waiting to be heard: The Ringwood Magistrates’ Court is open from 9am to 4.30pm, with people milling around outside beforehand, smoking, pacing, or on the phone.

Inside, a security check not unlike an airport – empty pockets, arms raised.

Black and blue carpet, a stale scent, white walls with wooden accents – closer to a hospital than a place of human drama.

Jiggling legs, darting eyes and whispered conversations give the air a faint anxiety.

🏃 An ever-moving machine: In the main waiting room, there is a wide variety of people – defendants in black dress shirts and trousers, an older woman with a blue tinge in her hair and a dolphin-print shirt and solicitors with suitcases and tired eyes going over cases with their clients or offering a five-minute vape break warning.

• Clerks with jugs of water and police with piles of case papers move between courtrooms. Lawyers speak in their own language, punctuated with “How the f*** are you, mate?”

🛑 Make a long line: About 250 cases fill the criminal list. Courtroom One is the largest and busiest – seating about 20 defendants and their lawyers.

• As the Magistrate enters, phones are put away. Everyone stands, then bows.

• Fluorescent lights fill the room and the Magistrate sits behind three monitors, Australia’s Coat of Arms looming overhead.

• Cases range from a woman charged with stalking to a man accused of stealing $167 worth of meat and cleaning products.

🕛 The last case before noon: A 20-year-old Doreen man stands charged with driving on a suspended licence, possession of 8.8 grams of cannabis and three small “explosive devices” – firecrackers, allegedly placed in his pocket as a joke.

• Dressed in a suit and tie, he represents himself and pleads guilty, receiving a $500 fine and a further licence suspension.

• The firecracker charge is dismissed, prompting a sigh – he had worried a conviction would hurt his chances of finding mining work.

Away from television drama, the arm of justice moves slowly but with purpose. Just don’t expect to be in and out in 15 minutes.