![]() ![]() For example, there was a Direction which provided that Affidavits could be witnessed without the deponent having to be in the physical presence of the witness A COVID-19 Practice Direction was rolled out by the Courts.Whilst this way of conducting a Trial was warmly welcomed by the profession and parties seeking access to the Courts, it caused the Trial process to take longer due to issues with technology and lack of user competence In time, Trials would recommence via the use of Microsoft Teams videoconferencing. The Courts commenced to run its usual daily lists after about several weeks, but via telephone conferencing.I don’t think that anyone will ever question why teachers get so many holidays each year Homeschooling was underway for most and parents quickly learned what it was like to be a teacher. I recall the phones at the office barely rang throughout the month of April.Her Honour responded, “ Mr Brandon, you will appreciate that we are in gravely uncertain times and I simply cannot say when the Courts will be back running as normal“ I recall asking the Judge, “ Your Honour, it would assist knowing when the matter would likely next be before the Court so the parties know for what duration they need to turn their minds to“. I won’t be determining anything today given the circumstances well known to yourselves“. I recall the Judge telling both lawyers, “ go outside and work something out. I recall my last in person Court appearance being on 18 March, 2020. The Courts effectively shut down for a period of time.The above was experienced by all, but below are some of the things we experienced in family law as a result of COVID-19 :. The fear was not so much about ones own health, but the uncertainty over their future, mostly in an economic sense.įortunately, Australia has been able to handle the economic and health crisis very well and has been a world leader, with no small thanks to our relatively small population and our geographic standing. There was certainly a widespread level of fear which I have not personally encountered in my lifetime and which I can only imagine has previously been felt during periods of world war. Within days, international borders were locked down, millions of jobs were lost, the share market crashed and the Prime Minister was holding almost daily nationally televised addresses. On 11 March, 2020 the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic. In late February/early March, 2020 everyone knew someone who worked in the State Government Health System who was talking up this virus as likely to have an Armageddon-like impact on the Australian health system. By mid February the news of another SARS virus emerging from Asia was getting more air time on the news cycle, but certainly was not getting much traction from the general public. Plenty of work, everyone busy and looking forward to a year of growth and productivity. With only a few more business days left before we break for Christmas, I thought it might be nice to reflect on the year that was (if only for cathartic reasons). Though he’d eventually surrender the White House to the incoming administration, he spray painted “Trimp 4evr” (sic) on the wall of the Lincoln Bedroom, a piece of which sits in the National Museum of Regrets in Miami-Dade County, Fla., along with the movie adaptation of “Hillbilly Elegy,” cancel culture, televangelism, daylight saving time and New Coke.2020 is not a year that we will forget in a hurry, although it’s one that most are happy to see coming to an end. Trump, who has since earned the nickname “The Greatest Loser” among historians and world leaders, pretended for months that he was the true winner of that election, even cajoling a cadre of questionably-accredited lawyers and members of his own party into defending the delusional claim. Significantly, 2020 also marked the end of Trump’s first and only term in office, the result of a landslide election defeat by Democrat Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. In the ensuing weeks and months, protests calling for police and criminal justice reform spread across the country, as did increased calls for the removal of Confederate statues ![]() In 2020 racial tensions came to a head with the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.
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