City conference venue utilised for NI court business

With ongoing disruption to the judicial system due to the Covid pandemic, the Department of Justice has begun using the International Convention Centre (formerly the Waterfront Hall) for a variety of court business.

NICTS activity is being phased in at the ICC, beginning this week with jury assembly, with the centre eventually hosting tribunals, welfare appeals and pre-hearing consultations.

Justice Minister Naomi Long has welcomed the new facility.

“From the moment lockdown occurred in March, NICTS staff, the judiciary, the legal profession and the wider justice family worked hard to ensure justice did not grind to a halt,” she said.

“They achieved that by deploying technology for remote and hybrid hearings and by also holding a limited number of physical hearings at five court hubs. The gradual reopening of court venues during the summer enabled jury trials to resume in six venues with stringent Covid protection measures in place for all court users and significant adaptations to the layout of the courtrooms.

“This work has enabled the judiciary, tribunal panel members and NICTS staff to make inroads into the backlog of court and tribunals cases that built up when lockdown occurred.”

Mrs Long described the ICC as an “important asset” and said it will provide more space for social distancing than other facilities available to the NICTS.

“The deployment of ICC Belfast as a Nightingale venue will help our courts and tribunals to make further inroads into the case backlog during 2021, as well as freeing up other courtrooms in the Laganside Court complex that are being used for juror deliberation,” she said.

“NICTS will not be undertaking any additional activity at the ICC that wouldn’t otherwise occur in one of its own venues.

“The facilities at the ICC actually provide more space for social distancing than is currently the case on NICTS’s Belfast estate.

“All activity, however, will be phased in. In the first week of operation, the ICC is hosting a jury panel call which will adhere to social distancing and other public health protection requirements. Summons have already been issued to allow Crown Court trials to continue in Belfast during January.

“In subsequent weeks, we intend to introduce Appeals Service hearings and Coroners Inquests. It should be noted that the use of a larger external venue will facilitate the physical attendance of more relatives of the deceased at inquests than is currently the case in Laganside.”

Mrs Long added: “Given the evolving situation around Covid, NICTS will continue to work closely with the judiciary, with tribunal panel members and public health bodies to assess the implications for all its operations and to also make sure that all activity at the Nightingale venue and its properties can be conducted safely.”

ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall’s chief executive Julia Corkey said: “We are delighted to welcome NICTS to ICC Belfast to support its back office, courts and tribunals operations. The pandemic has resulted in a backlog of cases and we are pleased to be able to provide the space required to enable NICTS to continue to provide its important service in a Covid secure way.”