The New York court system is weighing how to potentially expand virtual and remote proceedings under a plan released Wednesday by the state's judiciary.

The proposal released by a working group of judges, lawyers and court administrators proposes more transparency in the use of virtual proceedings as well as improving the functioning of remote proceedings. The committee also proposed expanding alterantives for court users to access the virutal and remote proceedings.

The working group was created in May 2022 to examine how New York's court system addressed the COVID pandemic and the accommodations needed in order to continue to hold legal proceedings.

“One of the key lessons of the pandemic is that, going forward, we must be prepared for unforeseeable events that threaten to impede access to justice for the many who look to our courts for relief,” said Acting Chief Judge Anthony Cannataro, calling the report a blueprint for the future and noting that a critical step will be restoring staffing to pre-pandemic levels. “Our judges and professional staff proved incredibly nimble when COVID caught us by surprise in early 2020 and keeping the courts functioning was a gargantuan achievement."

The group also proposed expanded use of electronic filing, spending on locally appropriate projects to modernize courthouses to better support hybrid or virtual proceedings and develop contingency plans for future pandemics that could once again cause disruptions.