Supreme Court – Guidelines to Re-opening (Updated)
The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador has distributed the following notice:
The attached Guidelines to Re-opening is being issued at the request of The Honourable Raymond P. Whalen, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Please note the major changes to this version, include:
- Persons are expected to bring their own masks to Court. (See page 5.)
- The date for re-opening the registries in the St. John’s General Division and Family Division, originally scheduled for September 8, will be pushed back to September 16, owing to a delay in launching the Court’s online scheduling system. Attendance will be by appointment only. Appointments may be booked online on the Supreme Court’s webpage beginning on September 11. (See page 8.)
- Starting on September 14, all matters which are scheduled for the St. John’s Family Division will be held in-person, unless the Court contacts the parties to indicate that the matter will be held by video or audioconference. Parties and counsel should arrive at the courthouse 10 minutes before their matter to ensure that all necessary screening may be conducted in time. (See page 10.)
- Jury trials will recommence starting on September 14. Jury trials in St. John’s will be held in the former School for the Deaf, located on Topsail Road. Venues for jury trials to be held in other Judicial Centres are still being finalized. The Court is also exploring alternative procedures for the conduct of jury selections. (See page 12.)
Inquiries can be sent to: inquiries@supreme.court.nl.ca