From remote hearings to online courts

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a broadening of remote or virtual hearings worldwide that has been completely disruptive, as it has served to prove how it is possible that the core of proceedings can be fully developed remotely, without the need for the parties and the court to meet face to face and in the same place. Their generalisation in a post-pandemic setting has prompted discussion and concern regarding the quality of judicial immediacy, of evidence taking and, thus, of the reconstruction of the facts. More importantly, remote hearings are breaking the taboo of the face-to-face oral trial as a key element of a good administration of justice and are paving the way towards a total dematerialisation of proceedings through their complete digitalisation. This is the challenge facing judicial systems for the future. Talking about online courts does not only mean a change in the way court proceedings are handled; moreover, it has the potential to bring about major changes in the way justice and the role of the courts are conceived. The very recent emergence of (generative) artificial intelligence, with increasingly developed applications in the legal field, is contributing to this, forcing a reconsideration of the role of lawyers, but also of the way in which judicial decisions are to be reached.