We have been asked to pass on an urgent message to you from Woolwich Crown Court.
Understandably, the List Office is being overwhelmed with calls requesting that cases be taken out of the list or changed to Telephone Mentions.
To assist the Judges to make a speedy decision on whether there is a need for a formal hearing, it is requested that before you call or email the Court, that you upload to the DCS an outline of the current defence (or prosecution) position with sufficient detail for an assessment to be made. It is suggested that you use “widely shared comments” on the DCS for this purpose.
Although this request has come specifically from Woolwich Crown Court, as all Courts are likely experiencing similar, we would suggest this is a sensible approach to apply to other Crown Court matters at this time, unless or until a wider protocol or guidance is issued