HMCTS Weekly Operational Update - Week commencing Monday 21 March 2022

HM Courts and Tribunals Service sent this bulletin at 20-03-2022 05:00 PM GMT

HMCTS operational summary for week commencing Monday 21 March 2022

Next week’s update will be issued on Friday 25 March 2022.

Updated: Sheffield Magistrates’ Court is temporarily closed whilst essential building work is completed. Affected parties have been contacted and work has been relisted at alternative venues. Please check Court and Tribunal finder for further updates.
Reminder: The Grand Connaught Rooms in Holborn will replace our Nightingale court at Monument. It will begin operating 2 Crown courtrooms from the end of March.
Reminder: We’ve worked alongside a research team at Oxford University to design and create a series of audio-visual guides and documentation that will improve the support available to users participating in online hearings.
Reminder: Recent government announcements affect COVID-19 guidance in England, Wales and Scotland. In England, the plan for Living with COVID-19 encourages safer behaviours through public health advice. We continue to follow government and public health guidance. Our latest COVID-19 guidance for all court and tribunal users is updated when new advice is available.
Reminder: 30 Nightingale courtrooms are to be extended until March 2023 in order to tackle the impact of COVID-19.
Reminder: The professional users access scheme is now available across all our sites in England and Wales, allowing fast track entry for members holding an ID card.

Reminder: Defence solicitors and barristers attending court for a Common Platform hearing should use the professional check-in feature, in both the Crown and magistrates’ courts. Watch our video guide to find out more. If you experience issues, please let the court usher or clerk know and they can assist. Checking in does not remove the need to communicate with court ushers regarding your case.
Reminder: 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.

Updated: From Monday 4 April 2022, legal professionals issuing claims for damages that fall under the scope of Practice Direction 51ZB should use the Damages Claim service on MyHMCTS. Legal professionals acting for claimants can find guidance and sign up on GOV.UK.

Updated: A new divorce law comes into force from Wednesday 6 April 2022. From Thursday 31 March 2022 paper and digital applications under the current law will no longer be accepted. There is a separate arrangement for urgent applications. Applications will be accepted on the new online divorce service from Wednesday 6 April 2022.
Reminder: Applications for care and supervisions orders for childcare have moved online across all local authorities in England and Wales.
Reminder: The C100 bulk scanning service at Slough closed on Tuesday 15 March 2022. Please use the online service to make arrangements for children for both urgent and non-urgent applications. If applications are urgent and need to be heard on the same day please continue to call or email your local court.

Updated: The E-Filing service for litigants in person and professional users of the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) went live on Monday 14 March 2022.

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