Pilot scheme offering rapid coronavirus held in Manchester courts
The scheme is being used at Manchester s Civil Justice Centre
Updated
The Civil Justice Centre in Manchester (Image: Manchester Evening News)
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By Jemma Slingo2021-01-29T11:30:00+00:00
Sometime in the hazy period between Christmas and New Year, a letter from HM Courts & Tribunals Service landed on my doormat. After a moment of panic, in which everyone who might feasibly want to sue me flashed before my eyes, I opened the envelope. I wasn’t being dragged through the courts. I was simply being summoned for jury service.
With several days of mince pies and sherry still to get through, I put the letter in my desk drawer and forget about it. As January set in, however, and lockdown ramped up, the prospect of boarding the Northern Line and spending my days in a London Crown court grew more unsettling.
HMCTS officials revealed earlier this month that
LFT would be piloted at the court to improve court safety. Providing further details today, HMCTS said the test would be offered to those not showing coronavirus symptoms, and all staff, judiciary, contractors and legal professionals.
LFT detects the presence of the virus by applying a swab or saliva sample to the device’s absorbent pad. The sample runs along the surface of the pad, showing at the end a visual positive or negative result dependent on the presence of the virus.
If results come back positive, court users will be asked to return home quickly
By John Hyde2021-01-28T11:42:00+00:00
Court bosses this week insisted that a Yorkshire court is safe after closing the building for a day following a Covid-19 outbreak.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service said that in line with government guidance, Doncaster Justice Centre North had closed last Thursday after a ‘small number’ of staff and court users developed symptoms of the disease. The building reopened the following day after a deep clean and has continued to operate this week.
An HMCTS spokesperson said the courts service is following all public health and government Covid-secure guidelines and has put measures in place to keep court and tribunal users safe. These measures are under constant review.
By Jemma Slingo2021-01-28T11:59:00+00:00
The new master of the rolls is to commence a ‘fundamental generational reform of the civil justice system’, in which all claims will begin online before entering a digital court process.
Speaking at a virtual event hosted by the Law Society, Sir Geoffrey Vos said future generations ‘will not accept a slow, paper-based and courthouse-centric justice system. If that’s all that’s available, new generations will look for other means of dispute resolution. And it’s for that reason that the use of technology by the courts is not an option – it’s inevitable and essential .