A A

All pending jury trials in Nova Scotia have been suspended for a 60-day period.

The chief justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court issued the directive Friday morning in an effort to help prevent the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“Earlier today, the province’s chief medical officer of health encouraged all individuals, employers and community organizations to limit gatherings to no more than 150 people to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Nova Scotia,” Chief Justice Deborah K. Smith said.

“The Supreme Court is following suit and out of an abundance of caution, is suspending jury trials, as the selection process often requires hundreds of potential jurors to attend court at the same time.”

The New Brunswick Supreme Court introduced a similar jury-trial suspension Thursday.

The Nova Scotia suspension is effective immediately and applies to all jury trials that have not yet begun in court. The court will re-evaluate the situation at the end of 60 days.

Two second-degree murder trials had been scheduled to start in Supreme Court in Halifax at the end of March.

Jonathan Hughes, the defence lawyer for one of those trials, said Friday that he fears his client, Gregory Maxwell Purvis, will now have to wait until the spring of 2021 to have his case heard by a jury.

Purvis, 54, is charged in the January 2018 killing of Derek Miles at an apartment building on Pinecrest Drive in Dartmouth. He has been in custody since March 2018.

“I think it’s the right call to make,” Hughes said of the decision to suspend the start of any new trials. “The president of the Criminal Lawyers Association in Ontario is calling for all courts to be shut down entirely to try to stop (the spread of the virus).

“But it’s obviously a hard pill for my client to swallow, to have to wait probably another year to have his matter go to trial, when he’s asserted his innocence right from the start."

The Supreme Court is the only court in the province that holds jury trials.

People who have received a jury summons requiring them to come to court for jury duty within the next 60 days, and who are not presently sitting on a case, are officially released from the summons.

Jurors presently participating in a jury trial are required to report to court as usual. Anyone exhibiting signs of fever, cough or flu-like symptoms should contact the court immediately to seek further instructions from the judge presiding over their case.

Additional information regarding jury selection is available by calling the juror information line at 902-424-6400 and following voicemail directions.

There have not been any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia but the courts are putting plans in place to prepare for the likelihood of future cases. In the meantime, anyone attending court or visiting a courthouse in the province is encouraged to practise good hand hygiene and follow the tips to help prevent the spread of respiratory illness available at www.novascotia.ca/coronavirus/