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ARTICLE · 14 MAY 2020

Lessons From First Remote Court Hearings In Ireland And The UK

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While it was the intention of the Irish courts to develop technology to facilitate remote hearings over the next number of years,this process has been significantly accelerated...

IrelandLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Ronan Geary
Ronan Geary
Marie Therese Collins
Marie Therese Collins
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While it was the intention of the Irish courts to develop technology to facilitate remote hearings over the next number of years, this process has been significantly accelerated over the past number of weeks.

In a statement on 31 March 2020, the Chief Justice and the Presidents of all Jurisdictions of the Courts confirmed that ICT infrastructure was under development to facilitate remote hearings. On 9th April 2020, it was confirmed that this technology was in place and that mock trials would be piloted to determine the viability of remote trials in Irish courtrooms. On Monday 20 April 2020, the Supreme Court conducted its first remote hearing. This is a case-management hearing relating to a number of cases. The court of Appeal also held its first remote hearing. Today the Court of Appeal held a callover involving over 80 different participants.

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