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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:58 am
Time: 2:58 am
Results for video hearings
1 results foundAuthor: Gibbs, Penelope Title: Defendants on video - conveyor belt justice or a revolution in access? Summary: Embracing technology is the progressive thing to do. We all know that - it has enriched our lives immeasurably. Sometimes, however, it is really important to pause for thought, and ask whether a seemingly obvious opportunity for a technological solution is actually one that is worth grasping. That is the message from this timely report. It offers a totally convincing argument that the use of video and similar technologies for virtual court hearings may carry risks and costs that outweigh the likely benefits. Court hearings are complex events. It requires a great deal of coordination and cost to assemble all the participants. Surely there are benefits to be had by allowing some - or all - of them to take part in hearings virtually? Certainly there are potential savings, but there are also some obvious, and some less than obvious, costs. The obvious ones are financial. Whilst it is easy and cheap to take part in a short Skype meeting, the virtual reality that is afforded to participants is far from real. It is very much more expensive to provide equipment that meets realistic criteria for court business. There are issues of visual and acoustic clarity. Virtual participants need to see and hear what is going on, and need to be seen and heard just as clearly. Systems need to be 100% reliable and available - which can prove expensive. These practical considerations may be surmountable, of course. 'Teething problems' can be solved, and costs of technology will fall over time - but these arguments do not remove the need for careful and thorough calculation of cost-effectiveness. The non-financial costs of virtual hearings are potentially more troubling. In the first place, many defendants are vulnerable participants, and appearances in court are arguably very stressful 'vulnerable moments' for the majority, sometimes having life-changing consequences. It is overoptimistic to expect them to participate as fully in a virtual hearing as they can in open court, and to ensure that they are properly given voice. More generally, virtual technology inevitably degrades the quality of human interaction. Nuances may be undetected, misunderstandings may go unnoticed more easily. Empathy may be lost. Defence counsel may find it harder to support their clients effectively, and there are some indications that the technology may actually affect court outcomes. In other words, there is no guarantee at present that virtual hearings will not damage the quality of justice. Finally there are more diffuse - but equally important - concerns about the impact of this technology on the legitimacy of the criminal courts. We know that courts draw their legitimacy from many sources. Treating people fairly, giving them respect, listening to their side of the story, explaining the processes carefully, are all important preconditions. But there is also an element of theatre to court business. One might question whether the full pomp and ritual of wigs and gowns are essential to the authority of the court, but it would be naive to ignore the fact that a hearing is an occasion, not simply a transaction. And it seems very likely that the quality of the occasion is thinned by the technologies of virtual reality. Some will be tempted to dismiss this report as sentimental Neo-Luddism. That would be wrong, as its arguments are balanced and thoughtful, and deserve close consideration. For most citizens, court appearances constitute rare and important moments of interaction with the power of the state. It could prove a costly mistake to penny-pinch when orchestrating these moments. Details: London: Transform Justice, 2017. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 8, 2017 at: https://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/TJ_Disconnected.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/TJ_Disconnected.pdf Shelf Number: 148768 Keywords: Criminal CourtsCriminal DefendantsDefendantsVideo HearingsVideo Technology |