HMCTS weekly operational summary
A weekly summary of the latest HM Courts and Tribunals Service operational position for users. We aim to update this every Friday at 4pm.
We email our weekly operational update to our subscribers on Sunday evenings, and share on social media on Monday mornings. Follow us on Twitter to check for daily or urgent updates.
HMCTS operational summary for week commencing Monday 21 March 2022
Next week’s update will be issued on Friday 25 March 2022.
- Updated: Sheffield Magistrates’ Court is temporarily closed until Tuesday 29 March while essential building work is completed. We’ve contacted affected parties and relisted work at alternative venues. Please check Find a court or tribunal for further updates.
- Reminder: The Grand Connaught Rooms in Holborn will replace our Nightingale court at Monument. It will begin operating 2 Crown courtrooms from the end of March.
- Reminder: We’ve worked alongside a research team at Oxford University to design and create a series of audio-visual guides and documentation that will improve the support available to users participating in online hearings.
- Reminder: Recent government announcements affect COVID-19 guidance in England, Wales and Scotland. In England, the plan for Living with COVID-19 encourages safer behaviours through public health advice. We continue to follow government and public health guidance. Our latest COVID-19 guidance for all court and tribunal users is updated when new advice is available.
- Reminder: 30 Nightingale courtrooms are to be extended until March 2023 in order to tackle the impact of COVID-19.
- Reminder: The professional users access scheme is now available across all our sites in England and Wales, allowing fast track entry for members holding an ID card.
Crime
- Updated: Common Platform will go live in 11 criminal courts in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire from week commencing Monday 28 March 2022. Read more about the system and continuous improvements we’re making in our latest blog.
- Reminder: Defence solicitors and barristers attending court for a Common Platform hearing should use the professional check-in feature, in both the Crown and magistrates’ courts. Watch our video guide to find out more. If you experience issues, please let the court usher or clerk know and they can assist. Checking in does not remove the need to communicate with court ushers regarding your case.
- Reminder: If you have a Common Platform account, you need to login at least once every 90 days to keep it active. If your account is inactive for 90 days, it will be deregistered for security reasons. You will receive an automatic email notifying you before your account is deregistered: login to the system, and your account will remain live.
Civil
- Updated: From Monday 4 April 2022, legal professionals issuing claims for damages that fall under the scope of Practice Direction 51ZB should use the Damages Claim service on MyHMCTS. Legal professionals acting for claimants can find guidance and sign up on GOV.UK.
Family
- Updated: A new divorce law comes into force from Wednesday 6 April 2022. From Thursday 31 March 2022 paper and digital applications under the current law will no longer be accepted. There is a separate arrangement for urgent applications. Applications will be accepted on the new online divorce service from Wednesday 6 April 2022.
- Reminder: Applications for care and supervisions orders for childcare have moved online across all local authorities in England and Wales.
- Reminder: The C100 bulk scanning service at Slough closed on Tuesday 15 March 2022. Please use the online service to make arrangements for children for both urgent and non-urgent applications. If applications are urgent and need to be heard on the same day please continue to call or email your local court.
Tribunals
- Updated: The E-Filing service for litigants in person and professional users of the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) went live on Monday 14 March 2022.
Judicial guidance and announcements
Previous editions
- Week commencing Monday 14 March 2022
- Week commencing Monday 7 March 2022
- Week commencing Monday 28 February 2022
- Week commencing Monday 21 February 2022
- Week commencing Monday 14 February 2022
- Week commencing Monday 7 February 2022
- Week commencing Monday 31 January 2022
- Week commencing Monday 24 January 2022
- Week commencing Monday 17 January 2022
- Week commencing Monday 10 January 2022
- Week commencing Monday 3 January 2022
- Week commencing Monday 20 December 2021
Last updated
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Added translation
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Update on Common Platform added.
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Update for week commencing Monday 21 March 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 14 March 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 7 March 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 28 February 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 21 February 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 14 February 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 7 February 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 31 January 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 24 January 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 17 January 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 10 January 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 3 January 2022 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 20 December 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 13 December 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 6 December 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 29 November published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 22 November 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 15 November published.
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Page updated with changes to HMCTS operations for week commencing 8 Nov 2021.
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Update for week commencing Monday 1 November 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 25 October published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 18 October 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 4 October 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 27 September published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 20 September 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 6 September 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 30 August 2021 published.
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Updated for week commencing Monday 23 August 2021.
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Update for week commencing Monday 16 August 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 9 August 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 2 August 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 26 July 2021 published.
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Updated COVID guidance pages added.
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Update for week commencing Monday 19 July 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 12 July published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 5 July 2021.
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Update for week commencing Monday 28 June 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 21 June 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 14 June 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 7 June 2021 published.
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Update for week commencing Monday 31 May 2021 published.
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Added line on operational status of courts in areas where COVID19 variant is spreading.
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