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California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye on Monday issued a statewide order suspending all jury trials in California's superior courts for 60 days and allowing courts to immediately adopt new rules to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emergency meeting of court and branch leaders from around the state will focus on measures to ensure California courts can meet stringent health directives while also providing due process and access to justice.

The measures aim to continue essential court services while guarding the health and safety of the public, court employees, attorneys, litigants, judicial officers, law enforcement, and staff and inmates in detention facilities.

The council's latest temporary emergency rule requires attorneys to electronically serve and receive notices and documents in all general civil actions and family and probate proceedings when requested to do so.

Judges now have discretion to backdate modification requests for child, spousal, partner, or family support orders during the state of emergency.

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline to hold criminal trials has been extended a total of 90 days.  

The Judicial Council of California has launched the Pandemic Continuity of Operations Working Group, which will quickly collect best practices and publish a framework to help the state's 58 superior courts restore interrupted services in the wake of the...

"The judicial branch is prepared to work with the Governor and the Legislature as we all try to maintain services for the public we serve," the Chief Justice said. Read her full statement.

At its May 15 teleconference meeting, the council received reports on potential reductions to judicial branch funding, as well as planning efforts to restore court access and services restricted due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Since April, the state Supreme Court rolled a large screen television into its San Francisco courtroom to conduct oral arguments.

The Judicial Council approved a revision to emergency rule 9 regarding the statutes of limitations for filing civil cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to clarify that the emergency rule also applies to “statutes of repose”.

Guide addresses more than 200 questions and topics related to facilities, personnel, jury management, case management and processing, and communications.