Court proceedings

Court Hearings

New jury proceedings and death inquests involving juries scheduled from 7 February 2022 till the end of February will generally be adjourned except otherwise directed by the court. If any new jury trial is to proceed, the relevant parties will be informed by the court separately.

Where jury proceedings have to take place, additional measures are or will be taken to ensure enhanced social distancing of jurors.

All other court hearings will generally continue to proceed as scheduled unless directed otherwise by the court. Parties will be given specific directions by the court should there be any changes.

The seating capacity of the public gallery of courtrooms and court lobbies will be further reduced to enhance social distancing. Broadcast of proceedings within the same court building may be arranged if necessary and practicable.

For civil proceedings, the court may make greater use of remote hearings and/or paper disposal for proceedings where appropriate. The court will give directions for individual cases in this regard.

Handing down of Judgments

From 7 December 2020 onwards until further notice, parties of High Court proceedings need not come to the court to collect judgments. The judgments will, as far as practicable, be uploaded onto the Judiciary’s website within the same day when they are handed down. For cases of great media or public interest, the judgments will continue to be uploaded onto the website immediately after handing down. Hard copies of the judgments will be sent by ordinary post to the parties who have not come to the court to collect the judgments.

The Judiciary may consider extending the above arrangements to the other levels of court as appropriate, in which case notice will be given to the parties.