According to the Order published on legislation.gov.uk, Northern Ireland has extended the temporary court and tribunal live link provisions in the Coronavirus Act 2020 until 24 March 2027. The instrument was made by the Department of Justice on 17 September 2026 and signed by Justice Minister Naomi Long. In practical terms, the Order keeps in force the statutory basis for broader use of video and audio links in courts and statutory tribunals. It does not create a new scheme. It continues an existing framework that was otherwise due to expire on 24 September 2026.
The measure is formally titled the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Extension of Provisions Relating to Live Links for Courts and Tribunals) (No.2) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026. Article 2 states that Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 27 to the 2020 Act, together with section 57 so far as it relates to those Parts, will now expire on 24 March 2027. That detail matters because Schedule 27 is the legal mechanism that allows courts and tribunals to use live links more widely than under the ordinary position. Without a further extension, the statutory basis for those arrangements would have ended at the September 2026 sunset point.
The Explanatory Note on legislation.gov.uk states that Part 1 of Schedule 27 allows the wider and extended use of video or audio live links by courts and statutory tribunals. Part 2 sits alongside that by supporting public participation in proceedings when live links are used, while also protecting those proceedings from unauthorised recording or transmission. For court users, the effect is operational rather than symbolic. Judges and tribunal members retain the option to manage hearings with remote attendance where the law permits. Parties, legal representatives, witnesses and other participants can continue to join by video or audio in cases where a live link direction is considered appropriate.
The Order therefore affects more than courtroom technology. It touches case management, attendance and access across the justice system. For solicitors, barristers and tribunal representatives, the extension reduces the risk of a legal gap in arrangements already being used. For litigants, appellants and witnesses, it means remote participation can continue to be available rather than ending abruptly in late September 2026. Public access is also part of the policy design. The legislation.gov.uk note makes clear that the extension continues rules intended to let the public follow proceedings when live links are in use, while preserving restrictions on recording or rebroadcasting. That balance remains important to open justice in a more digital hearing environment.
This is not a permanent rewrite of court procedure. The instrument is time-limited and simply moves the expiry date by a further six months. The previous Northern Ireland Order, SR 2026 No.55, had already extended these provisions to 24 September 2026. The new instrument carries them forward from that date to 24 March 2027. That limited drafting is significant. The Department of Justice has not, in this Order, widened the scope of the live link powers beyond what Schedule 27 already provides. The immediate policy choice is continuity rather than expansion.
The instrument was laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly under section 96(2) of the Coronavirus Act 2020. The text states that it must be approved by resolution of the Assembly within 40 days beginning with 17 September 2026, the date on which the instrument was made. For practitioners and court users, the next key date is therefore 24 March 2027. Unless the provisions are allowed to lapse, extended again, or replaced by longer-term arrangements, that is when the current live link framework is due to expire. For now, Northern Ireland's justice system keeps the Coronavirus Act remote hearing provisions in place for another six months.