On 6th May 2020, the National Judicial Council (“NJC”) issued Guidelines for court sittings and related matters in the COVID 19 period (“Guidelines”). According to the NJC, the Guidelines were issued based on the report of the committee that was set up by the NJC at its 91st Meeting held on 22nd day of April 2020 to devise guidelines and measures to enable safe court sittings during this challenging period of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the fundamental innovations introduced by the Guidelines is provided under paragraph E of the Guidelines titled “Virtual or Remote Court Sittings”. This innovation in the NJC Guidelines will constitute the theme of this article given the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Evidence Act and the predominant positivist approach adopted by our Courts in the interpretation of statute.

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