The Courts Service has said it will continue to implement several measures to ensure a safe environment in the courts during the Michaelmas term, which runs from 4 October to 21 December.

The Government has said that it plans to lift most of the remaining COVID-19 restrictions on 22 October.

In a notice published today (24 September), the organisation said that thousands of people, all with very different COVID-19 vaccination status and risk profile, would be obliged to attend the courts in the coming months.

“This may impose COVID-19 health risks for some where public-health advice, for those who have not been fully vaccinated, is to avoid or exercise very high levels of caution in high-risk environments,” it said.

Face coverings

The body will continue to advise anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 – or anyone who has been told that they are a close contact of someone with the virus – not to attend court premises, while everyone entering will still be expected to wear a face covering.

The use of staggered lists, video links to prisons, and remote call-overs and courts will continue, and the service will still use dedicated staff to manage the movement of people on its premises.

Jury empanelment will continue in offsite venues where appropriate, and jurors will be assigned additional seating in the courtroom to allow for social distancing. Extra space for jury deliberation will be provided in courthouses.

Practitioners asked for help

Bar rooms will be available for use, according to the organisation, while consultation rooms may be available in some court buildings – once they have been risk-assessed by local management and found to be safe to open.

The Courts Service and the judiciary have also asked practitioners to help in some areas:

• Agree in advance as many issues, and as much evidence, as possible, to shorten hearings and avoid witnesses attending court unnecessarily,
• Where possible, consultations in relation to upcoming proceedings should take place in the days or weeks preceding the hearing date assigned to a case, and should take place otherwise than on Courts Service premises,
• In relation to witness cases, hybrid hearings should be availed of, wherever possible.