Announcement by Judiciary
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In view of the latest public health situation and other related developments, the Judiciary announced today (July 19) that all hearings of courts/tribunals originally scheduled for July 20 and 21 (Monday and Tuesday) will generally be adjourned except for the following :
(A) bail hearings at the Court of First Instance;
(B) fresh remand cases at the Magistrates' Courts;
(C) bail-related cases with person remanded in custody who has the legal rights to appear before a Magistrate to review his or her remand situation and the return date falls on July 20 and 21;
(D) cases or sentencing cases in which the defendants are remanded in custody pending reports and the hearing date falls on July 20 and 21 at both District Court and Magistrates’ Courts;
(E) cases concerning care and protection orders at the Juvenile Court and the return date falls on July 20 and 21.
For urgent applications, they will be handled under the established mechanism including the Duty Judge System.
Court/tribunal registries and offices will also be closed these two days.
From July 22(Wednesday) onwards, court hearings and registry business will generally proceed. Parties to the court proceedings should work on the basis that court hearings will proceed as scheduled unless directed otherwise by the court. If any proceedings need to be adjourned and re-fixed, parties will be given directions by the court.
With the primary objective of ensuring that the courts can carry on business as safely as circumstances permit, the Judiciary will introduce enhanced or additional measures for social distancing measures and crowd control soon. These enhanced measures will likely greatly reduce the overall capacity of the courts to handle business. Announcements will be made in due course.
For enquiries regarding general arrangements on the court businesses, the following hotlines are being operatedfrom Monday to Friday 8.45am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5.30pm.
• General Information: 2869 0869
• Court of Final Appeal: 2123 0123
• High Court: 2523 2212
• Probate: 2840 1683
• District Court: 2845 5696
• Family Court: 2840 1218
• Lands Tribunal: 2771 3034
• Labour Tribunal: 2625 0020
• Small Claims Tribunal: 2877 4068
• Magistrates' Courts: 2677 8373
• Coroner’s Court: 3916 6204
• Bailiff Section: 2802 7510
• Court Language Section: 2388 1364
Ends/Sunday, July 19, 2020
Issued at HKT 21:16
Issued at HKT 21:16
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