BC Supreme Court jury selections postponed as part of COVID-19 modifications

Due to the developing COVID-19 situation, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has modified its operations.

In a release, the Supreme Court outlined how normal proceedings will be taking place given the current events with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Court has asked lawyers and involved parties to consider adjourning non-urgent matters until the end of May, while criminal and civil jury selections will be cancelled everywhere in B.C until May 31.

For criminal cases that are impacted by this, the accused can opt for a trial by judge alone, and the trial will proceed during the scheduled time period. If there is no re-election, the trial will be adjourned until after May 31, and the Court will give the case priority for rescheduling when normal operations continue.

For civil cases impacted by this decision, the party or parties involved have the option to proceed without a jury, and absent to any other bar, the trial will continue as scheduled.

For ongoing jury trials, the presiding judge will consider whether the trial should keep going, or be paused.

The Court has requested lawyers and involved parties with all other trials and chamber matters to consider adjourning matters scheduled to proceed between now and May 31 that are not urgent.

Along with these changes, the Court will also offer a new process with phone or video appearances for applications to adjourn criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, more changes will be made for applications to adjourn civil, or family related proceedings to minimize in-court appearances.

More details will become available next week about how adjournments and applications to adjourn will be dealt with.