Grands colloques - Les technologies de l'information et de la communication au service de la justice du XXIe siècle -1 - 312

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SUMMARY OF THE SYMPOSIUM

audiovisual, computing and telecommunication technologies, through
which the participants present at remote sites can, in real time, see one
another, interact verbally and exchange written or audio documents”. It
is becoming a strategic issue of the judicial organisation, at the crossroads
between ethics, efficiency and humanity. ICT is interesting from an
accounting standpoint, but it is not neutral from a procedural point of
view. It must be based on the thoughtful and constructive participation
of legal professionals, in order to reconcile managerial logic and respect
for the fundamental principles of the trial.
Videoconferencing is mediated communication, by telecommunication,
by the interactive transmission of digitised audio and video in real time.
Frederic Pillot showed that videoconferencing modifies interaction, because
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of the artificial reality of the conversation (gestures pass unnoticed) and
the unusual perception of the context. But equitable communication can
still take place, which will make greater use of ‘verbal’ language and that
will respect the dignity of those victims who do not wish to be placed
in direct contact with their abusers. The dialogue is fair if the judicial
ritual is respected, if turn-taking is coordinated, and if the judge takes
care to ensure the proper understanding of the distant participant. Legal
practitioners reveal some reluctance and express certain concerns: technical
disquiet, considerable changes in professional practice, commitment to the
rule of direct human relationships, fear of trivialising the act of judging,
etc. However the benefits of videoconferencing, together with the theoretical and practical training of legal personnel, and a growing awareness of
the need to renew the relationship of proximity and of the revolution in
the space-time relationship, are expected to lead to greater acceptance of
this system.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled on videoconferencing
in the light of fair trial: it verifies that the litigants have actually benefited
from all the attributes of fair trial: the rights of the defence and the right
to communicate confidentially with their lawyers. The cases adjudicated
upon dealt with criminal proceedings and the Court accepted that videoconferencing is not in itself contrary to fair trial.

6. The one-stop-shop
The experiment in Austria was analysed by Ulrike Haberl-Schwarz: the
one-stop-shop was opened in 2009 to serve several jurisdictions. It has
helped to handle the flow of demands by litigants and to better distinguish
judicial functions from administrative functions. Litigants are directed to
the appropriate departments if their applications cannot be immediately
dealt with. Access to the jurisdiction is centralised, and therefore facilitated
(optimal human and technical access conditions). A technical videoconferencing site is also managed from the one-stop-shop.

Grands colloques - Les technologies de l'information et de la communication au service de la justice du XXIe siècle -1

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