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Law360 (April 28, 2020, 6:40 PM EDT ) The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered local judicial districts to start restoring operations that had previously been shut down as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak that continues to spread across the state.
While the justices had previously ordered the bulk of physical court operations shuttered through the end of the month, the order inked Tuesday agreed to allow courts to open beginning next week with limited in-person access.
Chief Justice Thomas Saylor stressed in a statement the importance of local courts adopting measures to conduct normal business remotely through video conferencing and other technology.
"Courts play a central role in our constitutional democracy and it's important to ensure that they are available to those seeking vindication of their rights or resolution of disputes," Chief Justice Thomas Saylor said in a statement. "The COVID-19 health emergency has forced everyone to adapt, and courts have quickly adjusted to handle a wide range of matters remotely."
Tuesday's order emphasized that the priority for local courts should remain critical functions, including emergency child custody and public health matters, but added that judges "shall put forward their best efforts to accomplish the timely administration of justice in all other matters."
The justices initially declared a statewide judicial emergency in mid-March leaving it up to county-level trial courts to suspend proceedings in response to the novel coronavirus.
Acting on the advice of Gov. Tom Wolf and top state health officials, however, the high court quickly expanded its order to close county-level courthouses and the three statewide appellate courts, with certain exceptions for essential functions, until at least April 3.
The justices eventually extended that order through the end of April.
While the court said Tuesday it was extending the judicial emergency once again through the end of May, the justices stressed that they were doing so only to allow individual counties to take measures to respond to local conditions regarding the extent of the virus outbreak.
"While the court has extended the judicial emergency ... in order to provide president judges with authority to address varying location conditions, we recognize the need to move beyond emergency matters to a much broader range of court functions," Justice Saylor said in his statement. "We do so, however, giving priority to our most critical functions in a manner consistent with public health and safety."
Even as the justices stated that they hoped trial courts would begin once again moving forward with an expanded array of functions, they said that jury trials — both criminal and civil — would remain suspended to an unspecified future date.
"Local court leaders shall assess options for resumption of jury trials consistent with prevailing health and safety norms," the court said in its order.
--Editing by Abbie Sarfo.
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