The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:
 
     The Judiciary announced today (March 10) that following the re-opening of the Court of Final Appeal and High Court registries on March 9, the Family Court Registry will re-open on March 12 and the District Court Registry will re-open on March 13.
 
     While the above registries will be generally re-opened for business with effect from the dates indicated above, special arrangements will be made for the registries to handle filing and other business in an orderly and effective manner. Some of the business will continue to be suspended during the initial re-opening of the registries. Any party or court user who needs to use any of the suspended business of the Family Court and District Court registries on the ground of urgency may apply to the relevant registry in writing with justifications. A list of suspended business for the respective registries is set out in the Annex. It is also uploaded onto the Judiciary website.

Preventive and crowd management measures
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     Having struck a careful balance between public health considerations and the orderly reopening of registries, the Judiciary will continue to put in place appropriate preventive and crowd management measures for the health protection of all people who enter and remain in the court premises. Court users are required to have their body temperature taken and wear a surgical mask before they are allowed to enter and remain in the court premises. The Judiciary will constantly review the situation and introduce any new measures as appropriate.
 
     It is expected that there will be more court users visiting the courts. The capacity of registries and accounts offices of the Family Court and the District Court will be suitably expanded to cope with the expected upsurge in workload. Special arrangements, including queuing and the introduction of a ticketing and triage system, will also be put in place to regulate the entry of court users into and inside the court premises. Detailed arrangements will be provided and uploaded onto the Judiciary website before the re-opening of the registries. Court users are strongly advised to check the updated information from the Judiciary website, and follow the advice of the Judiciary staff and security personnel when they attend for court business upon the re-opening of the court registries. 
 
Enquiries and information update
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     For general enquiries, the following hotlines are operated from Monday to Friday from 8.45am to 1pm and 2pm to 5.30pm: 
 

• General Information:       2869 0869
• Family Court:                  2840 1218
• District Court:                 2845 5696

 
     The Judiciary will continue to post updated information, including Daily Cause Lists, messages related to the Judiciary's arrangements arising from public health considerations, and advice to court users visiting the courts during the general adjourned period, onto the Judiciary website (www.judiciary.hk). Court users are advised to check the website for updated information as necessary.

Ends/Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Issued at HKT 17:59

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