COVID 19 – family court hearings

The President of the Family Division issued some guidance on 19 March 2020 in relation to court hearings.

The aim of the guidance is to “Keep Business Going Safely”. The guidance says that the courts should continue to function as normally as possible in light of the present pandemic, whilst bearing in mind the government’s recent guidance to avoid non-essential personal contact.

This means that most family hearings will be heard remotely. The most popular means is through Skype or BT Conference calls, but other forms of video conferencing have not been ruled out. This includes urgent hearings and applications.

Some hearings can still be heard at the court itself; this will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you have a hearing coming up, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Relationship Manager Louise Law on 0191 243 8163 who will be able to give you some further advice.

You can find the President’s full guidance here: COVID 19 national guidance