Lord Neuberger speaks out on technology in the courtroom
The judicial iPad may replace the judicial notebook and evidence in court may become more electronically-based but virtual courts are “likely to be a step too far”, Lord Neuberger has said.
While such a system has its advantages and while evidence by tele-conferencing is already in use, “witnesses giving their evidence in a traditional court by video is miles away from a fully electronic hearing with no court room,” he said, delivering the High Sheriff’s Lecture in Leeds last week.
A trial is “the state in action” and it may be hard to maintain the seriousness of litigation “unless court hearings take place in a physical space open to the public, in which the parties, the witnesses and the judge are present”.
