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Statement On The Administration Of Justice Post-Pandemic

Before the pandemic, the usual way in which hearings were conducted across all courts and tribunals was in person. In order to deliver justice in lockdown, it quickly became vital to move to remote hearings. From that experience, the four Bars recognise that the justice system has undergone changes that are, and should be, here to stay. In particular, the use of remote hearings to deal with short or uncontroversial procedural business is unobjectionable, and indeed to be welcomed in many cases, even after the current crisis has passed.

However, we all take the view that careful consideration is needed before any decision is taken to employ remote hearings more widely, once COVID-19 is behind us. There are, in our mutual experience, multiple and multi-faceted disadvantages with such hearings, when compared to the usual, in-person hearings that have delivered justice for centuries. Amongst the various factors that we consider relevant in coming to that view, the following are worth highlighting:

For these reasons, our unanimous stance is as follows:

  1. We are supportive of the continuing use of technology in our courts.
  2. We are supportive of remote hearings becoming the default position for short or uncontroversial procedural business. We recognise that the appropriate use of remote hearings will be vital in tackling accrued backlogs in each of our jurisdictions.
  3. However, for any hearing that is potentially dispositive of all or part of a case, the default position should be “in-person” hearings. Remote hearings should be available as an option in such cases where all parties (including the court) agree that proceeding in that way would be appropriate.

THE BAR COUNCIL OF ENGLAND AND WALES

THE BAR OF IRELAND

THE BAR COUNCIL OF NORTHERN IRELAND

THE FACULTY OF ADVOCATES OF SCOTLAND

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