As of the 30 April 2020 the Upper Tribunal are going to allow non-urgent JRs to be filled by email, and pay online in addition to urgent JRs

Procedure
Beginning on 30th April 2020 and until further notice, Judicial Review applications made to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) that do not require urgent or immediate consideration can be filed as follows:
1. By email to [email protected], by post or at the fees counter when the counter re-opens.
2. Attachments to emails sent to [email protected] must not, in total, exceed 25 MB per email. If they exceed this limit the email will not be delivered.
Fees
Beginning on 30th April 2020, parties lodging applications via email that do not include a successful application for Help with Fees, will be required to make an online payment.
1. For professional users who already have a PBA account, payment will be taken in the normal way.
2. For others, upon receipt of the application contact will be made by a member of HMCTS staff who will ask you to proceed with online payment using a unique reference number.
3. Once the required fee has been paid, the application will be accepted and progressed.
4. Cheques/ postal orders will still be accepted if the application for Judicial Review is filed by post
5. Cheques/postal orders/banker’s drafts/credit and debit card payments will still be accepted if the application for Judicial Review is filed at a fees counter.
6. Other fees payable in respect of judicial review may be paid as described above.

Procedure
Beginning on 23rd March 2020 and until further notice, all applications for Judicial Review that require urgent or immediate consideration (using or including form T483/T484) MUST be filed as follows:

1. If the applicant is represented or unrepresented, and not in immigration detention or at a removal centre, by email to [email protected]
2. If the applicant is unrepresented and is in immigration detention or at a removal centre, there is no change to the existing arrangements for filing by fax.
3. Attachments to any email must not, in total, exceed 15 MB. If they exceed this limit the email will not be delivered.
4. This applies to the whole of England and Wales; and accordingly the offices in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, London and Manchester will not accept such applications by hard copy.
Fees
A party making an application as described above by email will be treated as having promised to pay to the Upper Tribunal, on demand, any fee payable for the application AND will be contacted by the Tribunal for the payment in due course.
Please note for any application as described above, the cut-off time is 4pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays). If your application is not received by 4pm on a working day, please call the Out of Hours Court service at 0207 947 6260.

On the 6 April 2020, the Honourable Mr Justice Chamberlain, handed down judgment in the case of Chelsea Football Club Ltd v Gary Nichols  [2020] EWHC 827 (QB), the judgment is below. This provided an update on the considerations to be applied when considering whether to purge an individual's contempt, in light of the current Covid 19 outbreak, and the announcement of the Minister of Justice, on the 4 April 2020 that there was an intention to release a large number of individuals who were currently in prison and were deemed low risk. 

The Court had considered a similar issue on the 3 April 2020 LAKATAMIA SHIPPING COMPANY LIMITED​ v Nobu SU [2020] EWHC 806 (Comm), and found that the Contemptor should not be released from prison. 

In the Nichols case it was determined that there were a number of factors that were different in the case. Mr Nichols established that the terms of his imprisonment had changed significantly since the 25 February 2020, when he was held in contempt, and that the Court of Appeal on the 27 March 2020, had not reviewed the sentence in light of the change of the conditions within the prison estate. There had been a number of changes, not least that Mr Nichols  had a number of conditions listed within The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020, specifically Schedule 1. Further the conditions within the prison were significantly different and more onerous than when he had been sentenced, in terms of the lack of visitation that had been achieved prior to the cancellation of all visitation to any prison. 

As such applying the test in Swindon Borough Council v Webb (trading as Protective Coatings) [2016] EWCA Civ 152, [2016] 1 WLR 3301, it was determined that Mr Nichols should be released forthwith.