Remote hearings of personal injuries actions are now set to go ahead in the High Court as the Level 5 Covid-19 lockdown continues.
The judge in charge of the personal injuries list Mr Justice Kevin Cross at the Four Courts today told lawyers remote hearings will be organised for those routine cases which need a hearing and don’t settle.
The judge said the remote hearings will only take place with the consent of all parties.
Urgent cases
Since January only cases regarded as urgent have been allowed to go ahead at the High Court with the emphasis on settlement with three call-overs of cases a day to give the parties time to enter in to negotiations and keep the court updated.
The decision to move to remote hearings comes amid concerns the High Court personal injuries list could face another backlog as cases which did not settle on the day were adjourned in to the general list of pending actions.
At the start of the Level 5 lockdown it had been decided that only urgent cases would be allowed go ahead.
In January Mr Justice Cross said the courts were open but only cases which were urgent usually cases involving life threatening issues or personal and economic hardship would be allowed go ahead.
CervicalCheck case
During the first lockdown, the backlog of unheard personal injury actions ran to 300 but the court had cut this significantly with extra sittings in September.
Among the cases listed to go ahead are a number of cases relating to the CervicalCheck controversy.
One of the cases where a 46-year-old terminally ill mother of four is suing two laboratories and the HSE over the alleged incorrect reporting of her smear slides began this week in a big courtroom away from the Four Courts complex. The woman gave her evidence by video link and counsel and solicitors sat at desks which were two metres apart.
The HSE team, which said it would not be cross-examining any witness or introducing any evidence, asked to be allowed to participate remotely in the case. Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon granted the request.
