COVID-19: Remote courts worldwide

Lawyers around the world are experiencing the same rapid shift from traditional ways of working to online law courts as the coronavirus spreads. The Remote Courts Worldwide project, which launched this week, provides a systematic way for those who work in the justice system to exchange news about working systems, plans, ideas, policies, protocols, techniques, and safeguards via its website, www.remotecourts.org.

Posts include guidance from Texas on using Zoom for court hearings, the Peruvian judiciary’s use of Hangouts Meet and the Argentine courts’ tests of video for detention control hearings (in Spanish), as well as all the latest remote court updates from the UK.

The initiative, led by Professor Richard Susskind, president of the Society for Computers and Law, is a collaborative project involving the Society for Computers and Law, the UK LawTech Delivery Panel, and HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

Susskind said: ‘It’s time to come together, globally, to accelerate the introduction of remote hearings by judges.

‘We have no choice. Physical courts are closing. There’s little point in lamenting any lack of past investment nor in predicting that the technology will fail. Let’s make it happen.’

The judiciary has said only 157 of the 370 Crown, magistrates, county and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales are to remain open, for essential face-to-face hearings.

Chris Bushell, President of the London Solicitor Litigation Association, said he was involved in a significant hearing last week which was conducted entirely remotely.

‘While I don’t profess to claim that it was as good as in person hearing, it wasn’t far off,’ he said. ‘Gone are the days of grainy images, people speaking over one another and the line continuously dropping out.

‘What will be really interesting is whether the courts and the profession will continue to embrace technology once COVID-19 has passed. Professor Richard Susskind will certainly hope so. I don’t expect us immediately to leap into a brave new world of online justice. But there has been a shift in attitudes and the technology has shown that it’s up to the job. If nothing else, it’s been a catalyst for change and people have finally woken up to the fact that we don’t always need to attend in person. Nor do we need rows and rows of hard copy bundles. We can and will work differently.’