The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- South Carolina
- Level
- Court
- Authority
- S.C. Const. art. V, § 4; Appellate Case No. 2020-000447
- Issued
- 2020-04-03 Apr. 3, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-04-03 (immediately) 'until modified or rescinded' (read as 2020-04-03)
- End
- Amended Apr. 14 and Apr. 22, 2020 (SC-048), Dec. 16, 2020 (SC-052), Mar. 4, 2021, June 15, 2021 (SC-054); replaced Aug. 27, 2021 (SC-056) (read as 2020-04-22)
- In force
- Apr. 3, 2020 to Apr. 22, 2020
- Quarters
- 2020 Q2
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Gathering capCourts and public officesWorkplace rules
- Addressees
- all trial courts (circuit, family, probate, master-in-equity, summary courts)
- lawyers, litigants, jurors and law enforcement
- Functions reached
- CT courts (jury trials suspended; in-person hearings capped)
- CL closings (remote oaths; notaries for depositions)
- PJ client litigation projects
- CB legal-services customer base
- Collection
- South Carolina SC
Operative words
Jury Trials. All jury selections and jury trials in all criminal and civil cases are continued until further notice.... A hearing on a motion or other matter may be conducted using remote communication technology... If an in-person hearing is conducted, only attorneys, the parties, and necessary witnesses will be allowed to appear. The total number of participants should not exceed ten (10) people.... Until further order of this Court, preliminary hearings will not be conducted.... the due dates for all trial court filings due on or after the effective date of this order are hereby extended for thirty (30) days.
Enforcement
'In the event of a conflict between this order and [the court rules]... this order shall control'; replaces the Chief Justice's Mar. 16, 2020 memoranda and the Mar. 18 family-court order
Notes
Also stayed deadlines under scheduling orders issued before Apr. 3, 2020 retroactive to Mar. 13, 2020, 'until forty-five (45) days following the date on which the Governor lifts or rescinds the emergency orders' (as later restated in SC-052 and SC-054).