COVID-19: Information for Attending Court

10/06/2020

The Supreme Court of New South Wales has today published an update to its Protocol – Court Operations – COVID-19. The Updated Protocol is available here.

The Updated Protocol includes two key changes. At paragraph 3.15, an explanation of functional capacity has been inserted before the courtroom table. The table itself has been updated to include King Street and Darlinghurst. A column has also been added to indicate the functional capacity of each courtroom. This is the number that is displayed on each courtroom door. The legal practitioner column now includes additional detail to indicate the number of bar tables. Members should note that public seating numbers are not included for King Street and Darlinghurst as these will be variable depending upon whether the trial is civil or criminal, judge alone, and the number of jurors.

Paragraph 5.3 has also been updated to indicate matters will be staggered at 15 minute intervals, instead of 20 minutes.

The New South Wales Bar Association’s consolidated guide to COVID-19-related court arrangements has today again been updated in terms of recent developments.

Members are advised in this regard that, although the Bar Association is regularly updating the COVID-19 page of its website as information comes to hand, please refer to the latest court resources directly as developments are changing quickly at this time. Do not make any assumptions regarding your case without first doing so. Links to the various court and tribunal pages are provided in the body of the guide.