Although our formal reopening of the Supreme Court was not possible this year due to restriction on gatherings, access to justice is a priority for the Judiciary and we remain operational.
We usually host a church service followed by a procession of the Judges around the Clocktower and Independence Avenue and a formal ceremony in court where the Chief Justice delivers his speech for the year. This is an important event in court traditions.
We have limited our operations for public and staff safety by minimizing crowing. We have had a COVID-19 response since March 2020 with assistance from Public Health so we were always prepared for possible community transmissions.
- Court access is restricted and only people coming for urgent cases / rescheduling cases may enter the building
- People coming for urgent cases have to wait outside the courtroom until their legal counsel comes to get them
- Constitutional court cases are being heard as they are a matter of public interest
- Cases on remand are taken via zoom / video call
- All urgent motions are taken by a duty judge. This means every week there is one judge on duty who takes all the cases pending that week. This is to avoid using all the courtrooms and to limit crowding
- Employment Tribunal and Family Tribunal cases are adjourned
- Wednesday mentions are postponed for one month until we get more guidance from Public Health on the situation, as it usually brings many people to court each week. They are usually not urgent matters.
Services still available in the Supreme Court lobby:
Apostille services on Mondays and Thursdays from 8.30am to noon
Cashier for fixed penalty payments every day from 8.30am to 1pm
We encourage people to stay home and call our hotlines if they have any questions regarding their case scheduled for this month or court operations. In light of the community transmission of COVID-19, we are minimizing people entering court.