Update: COVID-19 - the world’s court systems

COVID-19 continues to disrupt and since the first publication of this article, global court systems have responded rapidly; updating their operating positions on a near daily basis. We have updated our recent article to reflect the present position, including new directives issued in respect of the court systems in France and South Africa. Updates and new information are detailed below:

England and Wales

From 19 March 2020, the Queen’s Bench has introduced the following changes:

• Certain counters are now closed to the public including Foreign Process, Enforcement, Queen’s Bench Listing and Masters Listing
• Contingencies are in place for payment of fees, issuing claim forms and submitting bundles
• We are now asked to communicate with the court office via email only

Hong Kong

• The High Court and district court registries have now reopened

Italy

• There is now a general suspension of all procedural terms and deadlines from 9 March up to and including 15 April 2020
• The suspension is applicable to the filing of all briefs for proceedings already commenced and the commencement of new proceedings
• The suspension applies to all time bars considered under Italian law, to be of a procedural nature, including those specific to shipping and air transportation. Road carriage, CMR and other commercial and tort time bars are not currently suspended.

South Korea

• After an initial postponement of all proceedings, now that the pandemic has receded somewhat, the courts are operating as normal

China

• The situation has not changed; Wuhan is still on lockdown. The court system is still operating with restrictions.

Germany

• There are no special measures operating in the court as a result of COVID-19
• However, a significant number of cases have now been postponed
• Courts are readily extending deadlines in light of the current climate

Spain

• The court system is now suspended
• Time bars are now suspended

France

• All courts are presently closed. Only urgent matters, where the court was notified of the same prior to the closure, will remain active.
• All hearings are cancelled; ongoing case management of pending cases has been suspended for the present time (estimated to be six to eight months). Once resumed new timetables will be issued by the courts.
• The Ministry of Justice will issue a decree on 24 March 2020 with a retroactive inception date fixed as of 14 March 2020 suspending all statutes of limitation

South Africa

• A number of directives have been issued, with immediate effect as of 17 March 2020
• Save for urgent matters, only hearings which have already been listed will be heard
• Expedited new hearing dates can be arranged for postponed matters
• Paper filings and subsequent timetabling will be undertaken via email with the Registrar’s Office
• Case management will be conducted via teleconference/Skype
• Judgments will be delivered via email
• Any application, apostilling, default judgements sought etc can be delivered to security and collected later
• No practitioner/court user may enter the court for purposes of issuing new matters save for urgent cases
• Electronic e-filing and issuing will be undertaken
• Only those persons with a material interest in a case will be permitted to enter the court (gatherings of 100+ people have been prohibited and minimum of 1 metre must be observed between persons)

The situation is constantly evolving and we are monitoring developments. If you require further guidance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

For further updates and other articles discussing the impact of the coronavirus please view our coronavirus hub.