Covid impacts on court

New measures in January as high numbers unable to attend courthouses

The high incidence rate of Covid-19 has resulted in unprecedented numbers of Courts Service staff, judges, practitioners and witnesses unable to attend at courthouses.

This position is reflected across the justice sector. The President of the District Court has decided, in consultation with the other Court Presidents and Courts Service, that as a consequence the Courts Service will be unable to support all courts scheduled for the two weeks from January 10 until January 24.

The Courts Service and Judiciary recognise that this is an evolving situation, which will be kept under review on a regular basis, having regard to staffing levels, judicial availability, Government announcements, and public health guidance.

The President of the District Court has decided the following additional measures concerning the business of the Court will be implemented until January 24:

The District Court will continue to hear the following matters only in all District Court Districts throughout the country -

Criminal Law: Cases where the accused is in custody and cases where people are charged with new offences. An accused if legally represented is excused from attending. Unrepresented accused should attend in person.

Hearings in criminal cases will not proceed and will be remanded/adjourned unless the case involves domestic violence offences, or where there is a plea, the accused is not in jeopardy, and the case can be dealt with by a court presenter.

Family Law: All family law business will be proceeding as normal until further notice, although some cases may have to be adjourned due to absence of persons described in the opening paragraph hereof.

Child Care Law: All Child Care cases will be proceeding as normal until further notice. Consent adjournments can be notified to the relevant court office by email and new dates will be provided by return email to the parties.

Civil and Licensing Matters: All District Court Civil and Licensing matters will be adjourned to a date assigned by the court. Where a party is legally represented, their solicitor or barrister will inform them of the new court date; otherwise the office will inform the parties.

If your case is not included in the description above, then parties do not need to attend court. Solicitors are to inform clients that they do not need to attend where their case is not listed above.

Unless listed above, all cases will be adjourned, and parties will be told of their new court dates by ordinary post or by their solicitor or barrister where one is present.

Exceptions: A case that does not come into the defined category above can be treated as urgent if a good case can be made. A party can email the relevant court office setting out the reasons why the case should be considered urgent. This should be on notice to the other side, who must be given an opportunity to set out their position.

Those attending court are requested to observe public health guidance regarding social distancing, hand hygiene, cough/sneeze etiquette and use of face coverings while in the court building and the court room. The Courts Service has set out guidance on how to access the courts safely and expects all court users will always observe this guidance. The Courts Service has put measures in place to help people safely navigate their way through court buildings and is again asking for your cooperation. In the event that courts cannot be conducted safely, judges may have to suspend cases until a safe environment can be achieved.

These measures will be reviewed on Wednesday, January 19, and will remain in place until Monday, January 24.