Download Free Sample

Introduction

During the COVID-19 epidemic, attorneys, judges, and clients attempt to strike the right balance to hear the clients' arguments and be safe. Courts have lowered the amount of jury and non-jury trials they are hearing. Many courts have eliminated trials. Even though most trials have not taken place, cases are still being heard. The depositions have been considered and the lawyers seem to process the cases. Many legal professionals have returned to Zoom and other appropriate virtual conferencing mediums for conducting distant meetings, mediations, arbitrations, and court processes.1 The civil courts of Canada have extensive case management that has authorities that allow the court for holding a hearing and receiving the evidence through phones or other methods of direct oral communication. Therefore, the evidence is provided to the court from a remote location through a video link or other means. This essay will look at the advantages of virtual criminal trials.

Discussion

Background

The virtual hearings’ introduction has led to the traditional courtroom litigation’s future is to become clearer. As technology pervades more and more elements of modern life, it seemed logical to wonder whether substantial hearings are to be handled remotely after the Covid-19 incident. In this context, on March 17, 2020, Chief Justice Lord Burnett published their previous update, offering full understanding of the coronavirus size and the possible impact on the continuous administration of justice.2 This emphasized the critical importance to ensure that the administration of justice seems not come to a halt. As per the fast changes in the scenario, there had been an urgent requirement for providing a boost to the use of telephone and video technologies as soon as feasible to undertake distant hearings. It might be an essential public service where the courts were required to continue their operations, even if it is not business as usual. To address the challenges raised by Covid-19, the litigation environment had to alter substantially, and reforms had to be implemented almost immediately. Following then, numerous more protocols and instructions were supplied, as well as temporary adjustments to Civil Procedure Rules components.3 As a consequence, the civil courts of the UK have embraced the difficulties provided by remote working and beat the odds to assure the continuation of justice administration where practicable.

Arguments

Virtual Criminal Trials ensures simplicity for each individual and establishes a specific time for a hearing. The time spent waiting is comparatively shorter, allowing other cases to be completed more quickly.4 The court can reschedule or postpone a hearing and every legal counsel and relevant individuals can operate remotely and ensure speedy justice. Furthermore, there has been no requirement for traveling to the courts, which saves precious time and money. There has never been a necessity to reserve a courtroom or an office. As a result, the requirement for security, parking, lines, and other annoyances is reduced. There has also been an introduction to exhibitions.5 The use of teleconferencing ensures that legal practitioners are to have entire exhibits that have been prepared ahead of time for providing the court and the opposing counsel for inspection purposes.

There have been substantial hearings, such as trials, that have taken place via remote hearings, implying a far bigger role for the technology and the software providers of the third party. This shift is supported by CPR rule 1.4 (1) stating that the courts are required for employing technology and offer instructions to help cases move promptly and effectively without the necessity for the parties to be in court in person.6 A multitude of technology vendors has stepped for building virtual courtrooms where every individual inside the courtroom is virtually linked from around the world. Previously, video communication platforms were not given much thought by litigation attorneys, the judges, or the administrative staff of the courts, but they are at the forefront of planning for new remote hearing trials. The preparation and dissemination of papers have mostly converted into digital and maintained an online mode. The litigators have already used data rooms for transferring large volumes of the documents that have been discovered, such that the court has been increasingly willing to accept the electronic bundle of filings. There is formal guidance that is to be necessarily followed during the preparation and submission of e-bundles to the court for every remote hearing.7 The software for document management allows the numbering of pages along with the bookmarking of soft-copy documents, which has been widely used.

The transition to digital has also necessitated the provision of a more sophisticated apparatus for the presiding judge, the attorneys, and every witness. For following and participating in the proceedings, the advocates, judges, and witnesses require a minimum of two screens for browsing and referring to the electronic trial’s bundles and accompanying the papers. The other device is to have access to the chosen video communication platform for attending the hearing. For hearings lasting at least one day, there has been a critical role played by the transcription service providers and the help of flexible and responsive support teams have been beneficial.8 In the absence of the luxury of a typical courtroom environment, the requirement to retain the accurate record of submissions and witness evidence is increased, provided the unavoidable danger of connectivity issues during remote hearings.

The integrity of the witness evidence has been a key problem and one that has been addressed in relation to distance hearings in general. The handling was to ensure that every witness had physical or electronic access to all necessary papers and that the cameras had been positioned. This was to make that the judge and counsel could see the witness not to be aided while delivering the testimony.9 The next factor to consider during the arrangement for the witness testimony is to be remotely delivered and from another jurisdiction, there is a need for ensuring that no limits have been imposed in such jurisdictions on the witnesses that provide oral testimony in English court proceedings through a video connection. Before the witnesses deliver their testimony, local legal counsel should be obtained to determine the existence or absence of any such restrictions. The fact that the problem of COVID-19 compelled the systems to necessarily adjust their practice and deploy digital methods on a wide scale during a short period of time. This did not suggest that the technology seems to disappear from the courthouses after the non-existence of the pandemic. Without a question, technology is considered for its continued existence and is reasonable to expect that its use will rise in the coming years. It is reasonable to anticipate that the technology will advance in certain ways that have no possibilities of envisioning. Therefore, in terms of technology, it appears that the sky is the limit.10 As a result, it becomes evident that the topic of technology in the courtroom should not be binary.

Evidence

The early unwillingness of the court to grant the adjournments unless absolutely required had come into the existence. In the High Court, the matter of the National Bank of Kazakhstan v The Bank of New York Mellon 11 had been presided over by Mr. Justice Teare. The case demonstrated that in every remote hearing, there existed the possibility of a practical problem wherein the members of the party's legal team led to proper interaction with the clients during the hearing. The National Bank of Kazakhstan case has shown a handy usage of WhatsApp groups that helped legal practitioners and instructed the solicitors in transmitting notes and clients to respond in real-time, just like in the traditional court environment. The experience of holding the first totally virtual trial in the English Commercial Court had been the task to set up on short notice, had fallen on the parties’ shoulders, and required some trial and error. However, with over 85% of all civil court hearings proceeding as remote hearings during the pandemic, the process of arranging and holding remote hearings had then become an oiled machine. Herein, the courts' administrative staff selected the video communication platform, and used and made all necessary arrangements for the purposes of trial. Therefore, the courts of the UK have demonstrated the willingness to embrace the technology by acknowledging that there might be certain roadblocks and unexpected obstacles requiring the parties to be flexible and collaborative.12 As a result, this has been the business as usual in the civil courts of the UK for the most part throughout the pandemic lockdown.

Conclusion

The above analysis has shown that Virtual Criminal Trials provide simplicity for every individual and sets a certain time for a hearing. The time taken for waiting is comparatively lesser and ensures other cases for faster completion. With this, the need for security, parking, queues, and other annoyances remains lesser. There has been no such requirement for reserving the courtroom or an office. The preparation and dissemination of papers have mostly converted into digital and maintained an online mode. A multitude of technology vendors has stepped in to build virtual courtrooms where every individual inside the courtroom is virtually linked from around the world. For hearings lasting at least one day, the need for flexible and responsive support teams has been critical.

Bibliography

Primary Source

Case

National Bank of Kazakhstan -V- The Bank of New York Mellon and Others’

Secondary Source

Articles

de Vocht DL, ‘Trials by Video Link after the Pandemic: The Pros and Cons of the Expansion of Virtual Justice’ (2022) 8 China-EU Law Journal 33

Mulcahy L, ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being? Shifts towards the Virtual Trial’ (2008) 35 Journal of Law and Society 464

Hafetz FP, ‘The ‘Virtual Extinction’ of Criminal Trials: A Lawyer’s View from the Well of the Court’ (2019) 31 Federal Sentencing Reporter 248

McCARGO DUNCAN, ‘Politics by Other Means? the Virtual Trials of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal’ (2011) 87 International Affairs 613

‘The Soothing Sea: A Virtual Coastal Walk Can Reduce Experienced and Recollected Pain’ (2017) 50 Environment and Behavior 599

Smith RG, Grabosky P, and Urbas G, ‘Cyber Criminals on Trial’ (2004) 50 Sage Journal 256

Web Pages

‘Rule 1. Scope and Purpose’ (Legal Information Institute, 4 December 2019) <https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_1?> accessed 10 January 2023

Sanders A, ‘Video-Hearings in Europe before, during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic’ (2021) 12 International Journal for Court Administration

‘Good Practices Protection of Witnesses - United Nations Office on Drugs’ (UN - Office of Drugs 2022) <https://www.unodc.org/documents/middleeastandnorthafrica/organised-crime/Good_Practices_for_the_Protection_of_Witnesses_in_Criminal_Proceedings_Involving_Organized_Crime.pdf> accessed 10 January 2023

‘National Bank of Kazakhstan -V- The Bank of New York Mellon and Others’ (Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 6 July 2022) <https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/national-bank-of-kazakhstan-and-another-v-the-bank-of-new-york-mellon-and-others/> accessed 10 January 2023

‘National Bank of Kazakhstan V Bank of New York Mellon SA/NV LONDON’ (Practical Law, 2022) <https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/D-104-8645?contextData=(sc.Default)> accessed 10 January 2023.

You Might Also Like:-

Reflection on Learning Experience in Addressing Obesity Assessment

How is Machine Learning Helpful in the Healthcare System?

Language, Literacy, and Learning Assignment Help