High Judicial Council confines Court sessions to the judiciary and defense teams.

Tripoli, 16 March 2020 (Lana) The High Judicial Council confined all Court sessions to the judiciary and defense teams with out parties to the dispute, in line with the COVID 19 preventive measures. It a statement Monday, the council deferred al court sessions to the out set of May and likewise postponing the following session to the consequent week to avoid disruption of court deliberations. The decision provides for announcing court rulings regarding the cases seized for verdict announcement as scheduled. Criminal cases are to be heard without the presence of defendants while defense teams can attend. Urgent requests and release applications are to be addressed by the relevant court in terms of processing and ruling. The decision assigns judges on rotational bases to consider urgent matters and jurisdiction orders and extension of detention and release matters. Court chiefs will organize judges' rotation timetable provided that each court should have four judges per working day. =Lana=