Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Updated guidance issued by Administrative Court Office

LNB News 20/05/2020 57

The Administrative Court Office (ACO) has circulated revised guidance regarding the lodging of electronic bundles in applications for immediate and urgent consideration, statutory appeals and claims for judicial review. The guidance has been circulated by the ACO to court users pending publication online. Malcolm Birdling, barrister at Brick Court Chambers and secretary to the executive committee of the Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA), highlights the key points to note.
The updated guidance contains additional information regarding the lodging of electronic bundles, which must be prepared in accordance with the instructions in the guidance and submitted in a format compatible with Adobe Acrobat Reader and/or PDF Expert.
For parties who are legally represented, all claims for judicial review, all regulatory and statutory appeals, all planning matters, and all non-urgent interlocutory applications are to be filed electronically with the ACO using the Document Upload Centre. Separate guidance on this process is accessible via the HMCTS Professional Users Guide, with details circulated to all court users.
For litigants in person, the guidance contains information on submitting bundles by email, noting that the ACO is unable to receive emails which are larger than 20MB. The updated guidance highlights the instructions (only to be used in an emergency) for litigants in person who have no access to email to contact the ACO by telephone. 
Commenting on the update, Birdling highlighted the following points:
‘The Administrative Court has responded to difficulties court users had experienced in providing (sometimes large and sensitive) electronic bundles electronically. It is now possible to upload all document bundles for court hearings and paper applications (including applications for immediate and urgent consideration, claims for judicial review and statutory appeals) by electronic means. The existing guidance about the format of bundles remains unchanged and upon issue of a claim you should be invited by the ACO to upload your bundles in this way.
The Administrative Court has produced detailed guidance as to the use of this system, which can be found alongside the Court's other recent guidance on the ALBA website. The court has also provided a further updated (and more detailed) version of its Covid-19 measures, which court users should familiarise themselves with. This contains specific guidance for different types of Administrative Court business, as well as making more detailed provision for litigants in person.’
Once published online, the updated guidance should be available here: 
• Courts and Tribunals Judiciary Coronavirus (COVID-19) advice and guidance
• HMCTS weekly operational summary on courts and tribunals during coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Urgent queries should be sent by email (as high priority and with ‘URGENT’ in the subject line) to: administrativecourtoffice.generaloffice@hmcts.x.gsi.gov.uk
To view the previous guidance, see News Analysis: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Important guidance from the Administrative Court Office.

Document information	

			Published Date
20 May 2020
Issue Date
20 May 2020
Issuing Department
Administrative Court Office
Jurisdiction
England; Wales