Fundamental rights under Covid-19: an European perspective on videoconferencing in court
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Fundamental rights under Covid-19: an European perspective on videoconferencing in court Pierpaolo Gori1 · Aniel Pahladsingh2
Accepted: 10 November 2020 / Published online: 2 December 2020 © @ ERA 2020
Abstract The Covid-19 outbreak has challenged long-established legal procedures, the material functioning of the Court, the rule of law itself. In this article, videoconferencing in court proceedings is seen not only as an exceptional measure, but as possibly an effective part of the ordinary activity of courts. Fundamental rights at stake are taken into account, among them the European Convention on Human Rights and EU Charter rights of the defence, to effective remedies, to a fair trial, to be heard, to a public hearing and to privacy. Human physical presence is invaluable. However, the current Covid 19 situation commands to treasure the earlier experience of the Spring 2020, and the absence of any ideological approach is desirable, whether this be in favour or against videoconferencing in Court. Keywords Covid 19 · Right to a fair trial · Public hearing · Court videoconferencing · Fundamental rights
1 Introduction The Covid-19 outbreak has affected the world in dramatic fashion and led to emergency measures in most member states of the Council of Europe, aimed to contrast a deadly pandemic with few precedents in modern times. Restrictions on human rights Disclaimer: All views expressed by the authors of this article are strictly personal and do not reflect the opinion of any Court.
B P. Gori 1
Judge, Corte di Cassazione, Rome, Italy
2
EU lawyer at the Council of State and deputy judge, District Court of Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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P. Gori, A. Pahladsingh
(as an effect of emergency measures) have been put in place and justified as exceptional measures to protect public health.1 Subsequently, in most countries, ordinary hearings, held physically in a courtroom, were no longer possible. This was notably the case from 9 March 20202 in Italy, the first western country to be hit severely by the spread of the virus. As a result, all pending ordinary proceedings were suspended until 11 May 2020 (in the case of civil and criminal proceedings) and until 15 May 2020 (in the case of administrative proceedings),3 with significant exceptions for urgent matters, which were expected to be regularly addressed by the courts and decided without delay. Such a goal was considered by the lawmaker to be compatible with respect for the right to life of defendants, lawyers, judges and for public health only by means of physical distance through the systematic use of videoconferencing in court hearings.4 Before the Covid-19 pandemic, videoconferencing in court was already used in Italy as a technical solution, in specific situations and the European Court of Human Rights found no violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.5 For instance, minors heard as witnesses in trials for sexual abuse or a per1 The UN Human Rights office of the High Commissioner on 27 April 2020 adopted guidelines for emer
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