HMCTS operational summary for week commencing Monday 20 December 2021

The next update will be issued on Friday 31 December 2021.

• Reminder: Since Tuesday 13 December 2021, if you’re identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19, you need to follow new guidance. Fully vaccinated contacts of a COVID-19 case should take a daily lateral flow test for 7 days to slow the spread of the virus.
• Updated: Courts and tribunals in England, Scotland and Wales remain open for face to face hearings and still have COVID-19 safety measures in place. For example, you must wear a mask in our buildings, unless you are exempt. Read our full COVID-19 guidance for more details. You should check your regional guidance in England, Scotland or Wales before attending our courts or tribunals.
• Reminder: We’re working hard to keep all our court users safe and it’s important that we all follow the guidance in place at our courts and tribunals. If you have any feedback, please use our escalation route for professional court users to raise any concerns – we want to hear from you.
• Reminder: You can check which courts and tribunals will be closed over the Christmas period.
• Reminder: We encourage individuals to take a free, rapid lateral flow COVID-19 test before coming to a court or tribunal. These are free and readily available in your local area, or to order online. Anyone who tests positive should self-isolate and follow the latest NHS advice.

Crime

• Updated: If you have a Common Platform account, you need to login at least once every 90 days to keep it active. If your account is inactive for 90 days, it will be deregistered for security reasons. You will receive an automatic email notifying you before your account is deregistered: login to the system, and your account will remain live.
• Reminder: We published a new ‘get started’ web page for defence professionals using our Common Platform case management system. This page includes links to essential guidance and contact details for our service centre and the helpdesk.

Civil

• Updated: We’re hosting three webinars on E-Filing for the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) to assist practitioners and litigants in person to use the new service once it comes into effect. Webinars will take place on Thursday 6 January, Tuesday 11 January and Thursday 13 January 2022. Registration for the webinars is open now.

Family

• Reminder: On 1 January 2022 the Inheritance Tax (Delivery of Accounts) (Excepted Estates) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 will come into force. This changes the reporting requirements for excepted estates. We will be updating MyHMCTS from 1 January 2022 to 12 January 2022 to ensure practitioners comply with the regulations. During this time, you should avoid submitting probate applications for estates which are impacted by the new regulations. Guidance on identifying excepted estates is available on GOV.UK.

Judicial guidance and announcements

• For the latest practice directions, advice, and guidance please visit the Judicial Office website.