Pa. Supreme Court Ends Statewide Judicial Emergency

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered that the statewide judicial emergency declared amid the COVID-19 pandemic be lifted.

The order, issued Wednesday, states that administrative orders issued by intermediate appellate courts as well as local emergency orders and deadlines remain in effect until they expire or are rescinded. However, the court gave local court leadership the discretion to extend or declare local judicial emergencies.

The order said county courts still have the power to “limit in-person access and proceedings to safeguard the health and safety of court staff, users and the public; suspend jury trials until they can be conducted within health and safety norms; suspend statewide rules restricting the use of advanced communication technology, impeding local provisions for court filings by means other than in-person delivery, [and those] pertaining to rule-based rights to a prompt trial.”

Additionally, the order said that lawyers may return to their physical offices if they feel it is necessary “to satisfy their professional obligations,” provided they take the appropriate safety measures in accordance with the state’s “Yellow Phase” designation.

The cessation of judicial emergency comes shortly after First Judicial District President Judge Idee Fox ordered that all criminal and civil jury trials will be suspended through Sept. 8. The order means that jury trials in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas are set to see a total suspension of nearly six months, after court leadership initially decided to suspend court proceedings beginning in mid-March.

The order, issued May 15, also states that, unless attorneys are otherwise notified in their specific cases, all trials, hearings and conferences scheduled through July 6 have been administratively canceled and will be rescheduled. Attorneys will also not be able to file papers in person, but, the order noted, legal papers can still be filed using the electronic filing system.

The Supreme Court declared the statewide judicial emergency March 16.

After Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Thomas DelRicci asked the Supreme Court for a declaration of judicial emergency in the county, the justices largely granted the motion, but did not make an immediate ruling at the time on the request to suspend Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 600, which grants defendants the right to a speedy trial. Instead the justices held the request under advisement.

In the weeks that followed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordering nearly all judicial services shut down as a means of combating the coronavirus, many of the state’s largest court systems reduced their prison population by 20% or more. In Allegheny County, the number of people in the local jails dropped by nearly 30%, between March 1 and March 31. In Philadelphia, however, the prison population reduction remained at less than 10% earlier this month.