Coronavirus (COVID-19): courts and tribunals planning and preparation

24 March 2020

Following a review of court arrangements, on 23 March 2020, the Lord Chief Justice announced that no jury trials or physical hearings will take place until it is safe to do so.

This means that no new jury trials are to commence until appropriate safety measures have been put in place to ensure that the government’s guidance on social distancing is being followed.

Any ongoing jury trails will be allowed to continue providing that social distancing is adhered to at all times and that any necessary health and safety precautions are taken. It may be necessary for some trials to be adjourned for a short period to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place. Judges and Court staff will then be able to determine whether it is safe for a trial to continue.

If you are currently serving on a jury, you should continue to attend unless informed otherwise. However, if you have started jury service but have not yet been selected for a trial or are due or are due to start jury service in the coming weeks, you should not attend court unless you have been contacted and asked to do so. 

If the facilities are available for hearings to be conducted remotely then this should be done and for any trials which do not involve a jury can continue as long as the correct distancing measures are in place.

The same considerations apply to Magistrates’ Courts and Civil and Family Courts. All urgent cases will continue to be dealt with if it is safe to do and matters should be dealt with remotely if possible.

All court and tribunal users, including witnesses, jurors and defendants are advised not to attend if they have any possible COVID-19 symptoms or are required to self-isolate in line with government guidance. If you are unable to attend for these reasons, then you must contact the relevant court or tribunal.  

Attendees are asked to ensure they keep a minimum distance of 2 metres apart at all times, particularly whilst entering and exiting court and tribunal buildings.

Extra efforts are also being maintained to ensure that court and tribunal buildings remain clean at all times and security policies have been updated to allow hand sanitiser to be taken into court buildings.

Contact the Regulatory team on 01254 828300 or regulatory@backhouses.co.uk for more information.