Open justice, criminal courts and coronavirus-related offending

On 25 March 2020, the Coronavirus Act 2020 was brought into force in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation was introduced under the government’s emergency temporary legislative powers, meaning that a reduced form of impact assessment was carried out. Contained within the Act’s wide ranging provisions, was the creation of new offences under section 44. While it is important to recognise that the statute is considered to be temporary legalisation (due to expire in two years’ time under section 89), and was enacted in exceptional circumstances while public services were subject to extraordinary strain, that does not mean we should ignore the ways in which power is being used and diffused in civil society during times of emergency.