The Supreme Court of Maldives has announced that the court will be conducting trials virtually and that the sessions will be streamed live via Youtube and Twitter.
Following the closure of the government offices due to COVID-19 pandemic, court proceedings have been halted. In light of the current public health emergency, the court has developed and published regulations on conducting trials virtually.
While the Criminal Court recently resumed trials after a hiatus, the Supreme Court has followed suit and will be resuming hearing cases. As per the regulation publicized on Tuesday, in situations where safety and security are threatened, trials will be conducted via Microsoft Teams, phone or any other teleconference medium.
The regulation states that under such circumstances, judges may conduct the trials from any location. However, they must wear their official gowns, and the lawyers should be dressed in formal attire.
As per the regulation, unless it is a confidential trial, all the trials will be live-streamed on Twitter and YouTube.
The virtual trials are scheduled to commence next month. Following the closure of government offices, the courts have decided that the appeal period will be counted once the trials are resumed in the courts.
The Supreme Court of Maldives
