In the light of the global lockdown due to the Novel Corona, Covid-19 outbreak, it has become mandatory to use online collaboration systems in place of the traditional in-person discovery and courtroom appearances to avoid major disruptions in Court proceedings.
Remote case management and virtual hearings with associated online proceedings can be used effectively for allowing the parties to comply with the deadlines set for any document submission to the Court or related appearances of parties.
Some of the essentials for a virtual Court platform to effectively and successfully conduct an online hearing or appearance are:
- A case management system that can work with a collaborative system seamlessly for facilitating and scheduling virtual appearances, hearings and trials with parties
- Documents specific to the virtual hearings should be made available to the respective case parties, from the Court’s side, at the beginning of the online hearing
- Mid and Post filing for the hearings, if any, needs to be allowed for the parties
- With technology available, it is possible to have transcripts of the hearing generated for judges to sign off, after the hearing proceeding
Even though trials involving multiple people may appear difficult, the matter can be overcome with the right, matured collaborative technology platform. It is time that the Court comes up with the right legislation to enable virtual appearance, hearing and trials for reducing case processing time.
