TY - JOUR
T1 - Justice reimagined
T2 - challenges and opportunities with implementing virtual courts
AU - Rossner, Meredith
AU - Tait, David
AU - McCurdy, Martha
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Sydney Institute of Criminology.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - While video technology has long been a feature of courtrooms, during the pandemic, courts underwent a seismic shift towards virtual hearings. Physical courtrooms shut their doors and hearings were moved to a virtual space. This transformation was fast, radical, and likely to permanently alter the landscape of justice. In this article, we review the strategies courts in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) adopted in response to the pandemic and discuss the implications for the practice of justice. We provide a close examination of the design, framing, and ritual elements of a virtual hearing that can reveal the challenges that participants face when interacting within a virtual court, and point us towards ways of reimagining a more respectful and inclusive practice.
AB - While video technology has long been a feature of courtrooms, during the pandemic, courts underwent a seismic shift towards virtual hearings. Physical courtrooms shut their doors and hearings were moved to a virtual space. This transformation was fast, radical, and likely to permanently alter the landscape of justice. In this article, we review the strategies courts in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) adopted in response to the pandemic and discuss the implications for the practice of justice. We provide a close examination of the design, framing, and ritual elements of a virtual hearing that can reveal the challenges that participants face when interacting within a virtual court, and point us towards ways of reimagining a more respectful and inclusive practice.
KW - COVID-19
KW - court technology
KW - ritual
KW - virtual courts
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099531576&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10345329.2020.1859968
DO - 10.1080/10345329.2020.1859968
M3 - Article
SN - 1034-5329
VL - 33
SP - 94
EP - 110
JO - Current Issues in Criminal Justice
JF - Current Issues in Criminal Justice
IS - 1
ER -