The High Court of Australia, the nation’s supreme court, will not sit in April, May and June, and all Federal Court of Australia listings that require in-person attendance will stop, both courts said.
The High Court said it would not sit in either Canberra or on circuit, after it adopted policies restricting travel and meetings and remote workplace arrangements.
The question of future sittings will be reviewed in June, the court said in a statement.
“The Court will continue to deliver judgments and deal with special leave applications including hearings as necessary at individual registries and will hear any urgent matters that may arise by video link between registries and Canberra,” the court said.
Separately, the Federal Court of Australia moved to reduce the risk to court users and court staff from in-person attendance in court buildings, commencing Wednesday.
“Unless specifically and individually excepted by the Court, all Federal Court of Australia listings that require in-person attendance, including mediations and listings relying on video link from court premises listed up to 30 June 2020, are vacated,” the court said in a statement.
“The Court is examining, as a matter of urgency, its capability to facilitate listings by remote access technology, without requiring in-person attendance.”
The Federal Court said parties with listed hearings up to June 30 will be contacted by the court directly about the need for the matter to proceed and possible options for achieving that.
Earlier in the week, the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia both shut their Sydney courtrooms after they were contacted by a Sydney-based family law practitioner who had recently tested positive for COVID-19.
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