An application to adjourn or postpone the hearing is asking the panel to pause the hearing and resume at a later date. Generally this will be because there is a procedural reason why either the regulator or the registrant cannot immediately continue with their case.
For the regulator it may be that a vital witness is suddenly not available, or that evidence which was supposed to have been received by the hearing date has not materialised.
For a registrant, it may also be that one of their witnesses is not able to attend. A registrant who is not represented might need time to get proper legal advice or find someone to represent them.
There might also be a situation where procedurally it is not ideal for a panel to continue because of timing issues. For example it would be unhelpful if on the last scheduled day of a hearing a witness was unlikely to give all of their evidence and would have to come back at a later date.
Before deciding on an adjournment the panel will hear submissions from the regulator and the registrant and will receive legal advice from the legal assessor.