Last week I had the slightly surreal experience of a remote hearing in (how is it “in” if it’s remote?) the Court of Appeal. Here, for what they might be worth, are my thoughts about the process.

The Court of Appeal, for the time being at least, uses Skype for Business as its video platform of choice. That might change as Cloud Video Platform is rolled out. Until then it’s SfB unless for good reason the presiding Lord Justice is persuaded that an alternative should be used.

We regret to announce that the identities of some of our members have been the subject of misuse by criminal fraudsters. If you receive an unsolicited email from any of our members, probably containing some bogus financial proposal, it is a scam. Do not take any action, apart from notifying us. Please forward any such message to clerks@albionchambers.co.uk so that we have a copy on file. Please note that no member of Chambers will ever contact a member of the public with regard to any legal matter, including inheritance.

As we enter week six of lockdown, most of us have had direct experience of the stark difficulties the ongoing Covid-19 crisis is presenting for vulnerable families. Whether it is lack of access to basic support services, increased exposure to domestic abuse, or an inability to participate in a remote court hearing, it is clear that it is society’s most vulnerable who are suffering the greatest.

In light of recent advice from government on social distancing, it seems unlikely that there will be a return to jury trial “as normal” in the UK in the immediate future. We anticipate that some of the larger courtrooms can be set up to allow for satisfactory social distancing with a twelve-member jury. But most cannot. So, unless we countenance use of different locations to hold trials, something will have to give. Either jury trials do not proceed at all for the foreseeable future or an alternative is found.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit us all hard in many ways. It can be difficult to focus on work at a time like this, with all that is happening in the world. Professionally, life is complicated by the fact that none of us seem certain if and how remote hearings are going to take place. The changing nature of the restrictions on our professional lives, at least for the first few weeks, meant there was a lot of “will-we-won’t-we” guidance being issue, almost on a daily basis.