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Court update: Jury Trials return Monday 8 February

His Honour Justice Burns, has advised that from Monday 8 February 2021 the Supreme and District Courts will, for the most part, return to the conduct of jury trials in the traditional way.

The trial (including the empanelment) will take place in one courtroom, the jury will sit together in the jury box and use the jury room assigned to that court. The other COVID safe precautions (e.g., physical distancing during empanelment, when moving about the building and in lifts, hand hygiene, etc.) will remain in place.

There will, however, need to be some exceptions where, for example, more than one accused is on trial.  In those cases, it will be up the trial judge to decide on the physical layout but it is likely that the present arrangements (involving the use of two adjoining courtrooms) will be employed, at least to facilitate the empanelment.

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