Court sittings will be held by appointment and only half the court rooms will be in use at any one time to reduce the number of people in the law courts building when 'normal' activity resumes on Friday, according to a document by the Chamber of Advocates.

At present, most sittings are set for 9am, with scores of people waiting outside the courtrooms, often for hours. There were various calls over the years for sittings to be staggered, but no tangible progress was made.  

Only urgent court sittings were held over the past few weeks, with activity having been brought almost to a standstill because of Covid-19 measures which are now being lifted.

The chamber's document, titled ‘Post Covid-19 protocols for the re-opening of the court,’ was published  following talks with the Association of Judges and Magistrates, the Court Agency and the Ministry for Justice.

It says that for the purpose of reducing the volume of people inside the courts building at any particular time, only half of the halls will be functioning at the same time and even then, the number of cases being heard in each hall is to be restricted.

Cases will be scheduled by appointment only, to allow staggered hearings, thus cutting down on the number of persons inside the halls and outer corridors at any particular time. 

The chamber said that in civil proceedings, lawyers are being asked to instruct clients to avoid going to court, unless their physical presence is strictly necessary.

No district sittings for now

District sittings, which attract quite a large number of people, are not to be held “for the next few weeks,” in terms of the new protocols.

The chamber urged its members to engage in further discussions with members of the judiciary to explore the possibility of holding virtual hearings using available technology where there is agreement that this is suitable for the particular hearing.”

As for those cases which inevitably call for a large number of witnesses to testify in open court, these ought to be scheduled for September/October, the Chamber said.

Strict rules are to be enforced regarding entry of people into the courts, so that anyone showing signs of illness or registering a temperature above 37.2 degrees Celsius, shall be denied entry.

Only persons having a hearing will be allowed in and then, only a few minutes before the scheduled time, complete with mask or visor and under strict instructions of maintaining social distancing within the halls and corridors at all times.

General measures of hygiene are to be stepped up in such manner as to ensure that halls are well-ventilated and cleaned between one sitting and the next.

The chamber said lawyers “should not feel compelled to attend sittings which are not in line with [these] principles,” and should “respectfully decline attendance to such sittings" and refer the matter to it.