A judge told a London solicitor she should not be in court if she was not prepared to go into the cells to meet a client, despite her expressed coronavirus concerns.

Her case was then given to another solicitor in court, the UK Law Society Gazette has reported.

Brought into court

The duty solicitor’s firm, GT Stewart, wrote a letter of complaint to HM Courts & Tribunals boss Susan Acland-Hood, pointing out that two defendants with virus symptoms had been physically brought into court.

“When our lawyers have tried to mitigate the risks to themselves and others by asking for a court room to be opened to accommodate their attendance on the client (the defendant can be brought into the secure dock through the normal route for defendants brought to court in custody) their requests have been met with the response that they should either attend the client in the cells in person or withdraw from the case so a lawyer can be found who will do so. This has placed our lawyers in an invidious position given their duty to their client and the court. This is happening on a daily basis throughout London,” the letter said.

“We had one of our lawyers attend a magistrates’ court as duty solicitor. In an attempt to follow a safe protocol our lawyer made the application for her clients to be brought into the court. This was refused and our lawyer was told she should not be at court if she was not prepared to go into the cells. The judge then purported to give the duty to another solicitor at court.”

Operational policy

Greg Stewart from the firm said that courts in Kent and Leeds have been proactive about protection measures but London is lagging behind.

The firm said the matter was not a judicial issue but one of operational policy on safety at an exceptional time.

It asked that judges desist from making such demands of defence lawyers, or it would be forced to seek its own legal advice.