Federal Courts to Continue Allowing Remote Access Through 120-Day ‘Grace Period’

The COVID-19 emergency no longer is affecting the functioning of the federal courts, said the Judicial Conference’s executive committee in a finding Thursday. The finding, which takes effect May 24, sets in motion a 120-day “grace period,” through Sept. 21, in which federal courts “may continue to provide the same remote public audio access to civil and bankruptcy proceedings as they did during the emergency,” said the executive committee. The finding pertains only to the Judiciary’s “temporary broadcasting exception for remote audio public access to civil and bankruptcy proceedings,” it said. Permission to conduct some criminal proceedings by video or teleconference, which had been granted under the 2020 Cares Act, ended May 10, it said: “Most courts already had discontinued use of virtual criminal proceedings.” The Judicial Conference “continues to study possible changes” to the federal judiciary’s “broadcasting policy” for civil and bankruptcy proceedings, “based on data gathered during the pandemic,” said the executive committee.