Jelena Popovic, a retired magistrate who sits on an as needed basis in the absence of full-time magistrates, this week refused to remand a Warrnambool man in custody for five months, stating it was too long for a person to wait on remand.

The man appeared briefly in Warrnambool Magistrates' Court where his lawyer asked to adjourn the matter for a consolidated plea hearing.

The court heard the next available date for the hearing was in August.

Ms Popovic said she was "horrified" to hear of the wait times confronting the region's courts.

"In fact, I'm writing to the chief magistrate about this right now," she said.

Physical court appearances were reduced amid coronavirus fears from mid-March last year, with non-urgent matters adjourned off to October, or later.

A Magistrates' Court spokeswoman said the state's courts usually had between 70 to 80,000 matters awaiting resolution.

That number was approximately 145,000 by the end of 2020.

The spokeswoman did not specify how many south-west matters were awaiting resolution, despite being asked.

She said the Magistrates' Court had implemented a number of operational changes in response to the coronavirus pandemic last year, including adjourning non-urgent matters and introducing online hearings.

"All courts remained open to hear urgent bail and remand matters, and family violence and personal safety applications and breaches," the spokeswoman said.

"The court finalised more than 160,000 criminal and family violence matters statewide in the 12 months to January 2021, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

"Adjourned matters were re-listed from October with more hearings moving into the Online Magistrates' Court. This enables parties to appear from remote locations without having to attend a court location."

The spokeswoman said the court was actively working with stakeholders to decrease our pending matters.

"The Online Magistrates' Court, together with active case management and triaging, have been, and will continue to be, critical in our recovery," she said.

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