COVID-19 | STAY OF DEADLINES IN THE JUDICIARY

During the session held this afternoon, the National Council of Justice (“CNJ”) approved Resolution no. 313 which, among other things, established an extraordinary on-call regime in the Judiciary and determined to stay all judicial procedural deadlines until April 30, 2020.

According to the Resolution, the uncertainty arising out of non-uniform measures from different local courts made the adoption of a sole nationwide criteria necessary. CNJ then decided to suspend all deadlines in judicial lawsuits and implement an extraordinary on-call regime to ensure the access to the justice during this period of emergency whilst preventing the dissemination of Coronavirus — Covid-19.

Pursuant to article 2 of the Resolution, the extraordinary on-call regime will operate in the same working-hours as the regular legal journey of the courts, but all on-site work of judges, clerks, trainees and other employees in the judicial entities will be suspended. However, the maintenance of essential services in each court will be guaranteed.

The Resolution allows each State Tribunal to define which services are considered to be essential. Each judicial court shall guarantee that all filing of judicial and administrative proceedings are maintained, prioritizing those with an urgent nature.

The Resolution also states that lawyers, prosecutors, public defenders, members of the District Attorney’s Office and the judiciary police will be preferably heard remotely and, only exceptionally, they may meet in-person. Also, the Resolution lists the matters that shall be analyzed during the extraordinary on-call regime, which are, among others: writ of mandamus; injunctions and preliminary measures of all nature; requests for licenses, under the justification of necessity; withdraw of monetary sums; replacement of bonds and release of seized assets.

Finally, the Resolution is not applicable for the Supreme Court of Justice and the Electoral Justice.