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NSW Supreme Court resumes face-to-face hearings
With the country on track to eradicate coronavirus completely, the Supreme Court of NSW announced its first steps towards returning to the pre-COVID court system.
Naomi Neilson
NSW can expect to resume face-to-face civil hearings on 1 June, followed by the criminal trials at the end of the month. Chief Justice Tom Bathurst said it comes after all personal appearances were banned in courtrooms two months ago, forcing the courts and justice system to adapt to a technologically based way of upholding the law.
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“I am pleased to outline a return to in-court hearings, in a measured and staged approach that protects the health and wellbeing of all courts users,” CJ Bathurst said.
As part of the process, some civil hearings with limited legal representatives, parties and witnesses will be able to return to the courtroom. Those involving multiple witnesses and parties will follow in stage two, and the final stage will see directions hearings, judges and registrars lists and mediations to return to the normal processes.
However, due to the overwhelming success of the court’s transition into the digital space, some of the lists will continue to be heard online with improved technology.
Criminal trials will resume at the end of June, but they will require at least two courtrooms each to accommodate social distancing requirements and jury trials.
CJ Bathurst thanked the legal profession and court staff for their “extraordinary” efforts in keeping the court fully operational during recent months. He said the move to courtrooms in a digital space created “unprecedented disruption” to usual processes.
“The shift to a remote system of justice was not without its technical challenges, yet I am confident we are getting better each day and I see an innovative future ahead,” CJ Bathurst said.
