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Remote Attendance by Advocates in the Crown Court
To all criminal practitioners on Circuit,
The senior judiciary has decided that all free-standing bail applications, where the defendant is not to attend, will now be heard remotely, unless the court orders otherwise. This is designed to facilitate the speedy and efficient bringing and disposal of such applications.
Annex 1 of the Better Case Management Handbook titled ‘Remote Attendance by Advocates in the Crown Court (February 2022)’ will be amended accordingly, as set out below. A remote hearing will be the default position, with in person hearings only taking place if there is some good reason for an in-person hearing (such as the physical presence of the relevant counsel already in court).
Paragraph 7 of the attached document has been amended to read as follows:
- Mentions, bail applications where the defendant is attending by prison video link, ground rules hearings, CTL extensions, uncontested POCAs and hearings involving short legal argument only, will generally be suitable for remote attendance by all advocates, unless the court otherwise orders. Freestanding bail applications in the absence of defendants will normally be conducted remotely unless the court otherwise orders. Bail applications heard in this way will be treated as being in chambers which means that solicitors without higher rights may conduct them.
This will apply to the Crown Court and will take effect from Monday 29th April 2024.
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