Supreme Court Extends Partial Closure of Courts

Jun 7 , 2020

The partial closure of federal courts has been extended for a third time for an additional 30 working days. The courts, which have been partially closed since March 19, 2020, will remain so until July 17, 2020. The Supreme Court extended the partial closure as a continued effort to contain the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), which is now quickly spreading and being transmitted on a wider scale. The Supreme Court has decided to gradually increase the number of cases to be adjudicated based on the low number of attendees. This is in addition to the select cases that the courts have been handling during the partial closure. The courts will give rulings on backlogged appeal cases opened before July 7, 2020, that do not require witness testimonials. It shall also pass rulings on criminal appeal cases after hearing both parties through scheduled video calls in collaboration with prison administrations and after submitting oral litigation in writing as required by the case. Urgent cases related to raising children, bail rights, labour cases, domestic violence on women and children, as well as the implementation of the state of emergency, will be reviewed.