Over the last month, the Victorian justice system – and all Australian courts – has had to adapt to COVID-19 responses. This has led to “tremendous stories of adaption” to ensure the justice system still operates as much as possible during this health crisis.

To collate all the new information rapidly coming through, Victorian Bar president Wendy Harris QC launched Victorian Bar’s Consolidated Guide to Victorian and Commonwealth Court Protocols in Response to COVID-19, which is as comprehensive as possible under the circumstances: “It’s impossible to publish a guide that is completely accurate at a point in time, as the sands continue to shift across the judicial system.”

“In the past three weeks, we’ve witnessed a transformation in how justice is administered in our courts and tribunals. [This is] a transformation more universal and far-reaching than any other in our professional lifetimes, that necessitated radical overhaul of the protocols and procedures on which courts have traditionally relied,” Ms Harris said.

Over three weeks, the Victorian Bar collated and distributed daily updates about the new and evolving technologies and procedures the Victorian and Commonwealth courts and tribunals have introduced “to facilitate the continued administration of justice”.

Ms Harris said the justice system has been “wrenched into a new way of working in less than a month” and she is impressed with the response from chief justices and others in the judiciary to “make change, continue to disperse justice and respond to concerns”.

“They have, in adapting their ways of working under the most significant pressure, been particularly cognisant of the impact of COVID-19 measures on those awaiting and those seeking justice, as well as those whose professional livelihoods depend on the continuing functioning of the justice system,” Ms Harris wrote in the foreword.

Some of the changes include appeals being heard on the allocated date with judges only present in the Supreme Court of Victoria and others logging in remotely, several counts in the Federal Court of Australia having been fitted out to conduct remotely, and the new Magistrates Court and Children’s Court protocols protecting vulnerable Victorians.

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“We at the bar did think it was time to pause, take stock, acknowledge the depth of the transformation that has occurred, and reflect on how this will change the administration of justice in the future,” Ms Harris said.