How True-to-Life. Videoconferencing. Benefits Victims

Transcription

1 How True-to-Life Videoconferencing Benefits Victims Peter J.A. van Rotterdam, VSE, Lisbon, 27 September 2012

2 Videoconferencing - Who is Peter van Rotterdam? PJAVR Ir. Peter J.A. van Rotterdam MSc Manager/Consultant Business&IT pjavanrotterdam@quicknet.nl +31(0) / /03 NL Proj.Mgr. Videoconferencing in Legal Procedures 2010/10 - current EC Proj.Cons. Transnational Videoconferencing in Judicial Procedures 2

3 Videoconferencing What I am going to tell you Videoconferencing Its Basic Functionality Videoconferencing Its Basic Quality Level How True-to-Life Videoconferencing Benefits Victims Measures to Protect Vulnerable Persons 3

4 Videoconferencing It s Basic Functionality (national example) Judges, prosecutors, lawyers, persons to be heard, interpreters and clerks interact as if face-to-face (true-to-life) via 2-way simultaneous video and audio transmission e.g. a Court Room in NL with Judge, Prosecutor, Clerk, Lawyer (option) and Audience connected to a Prison Studio in NL with Person to be Heard, Interpreter and Lawyer (option) 4

5 Videoconferencing It s Basic Functionality (transnational example) Judges, prosecutors, lawyers, persons to be heard, interpreters and clerks interact as if face-to-face (true-to-life) via 2-way simultaneous video and audio transmission e.g. a Court Room in NL with Judge, Prosecutor, Clerk and Lawyer (option) connected to a Court Room in CR with Judge, Person to be Heard, Interpreter, Lawyer and others 5

6 Videoconferencing It s Basic Quality Principle Each actor in the court room (judge, person to be heard, prosecutor, lawyer, interpreter, clerk, etc.) must feel comfortable to do his/her job. For good quality videoconferencing both VC Facilities must: Have a high quality, uninterrupted connection between the two VC Facilities Capture a good quality image and sound for providing this to the remote VC Facility (what they see is what you provide) Display the image and sound exactly as received from the remote VC Facility (what you see is what they provide) It is about Data Connections and VC Technology and also about Court Room Design (Lighting, Acoustics, Furniture etc.) The weakest link determines the quality! 6

7 Videoconferencing Requirements stated in NL Law True-to-Life 1. In order to assure the interests of each person involved (person to be heard, judge, lawyer and others) the quality of image and sound should be such that each person involved gets a realistic and clear view on what is happening in the other (remote) location 2. The view should not be manipulated by e.g. zooming in or out and/or focusing more or less on certain characteristics of a person 3. Image and sound should be synchronized 4. Looks, facial expression, mouth movements, direction of view, gestures, posture of each person involved should be clearly perceptible 5. Other persons in the other (remote) location should be visible 6. Interactions between persons (how they react, when they look at and/or speak to each other) should be clearly noticeable 7. Sound should be real-time, audible and allow simultaneous speaking 8. Communication should be possible based on sound only (e.g. while looking through files) 9. Objectivity: each person should be represented in the same way to each other person and each person should have the same perception of eyecontact with all other persons 7

8 Videoconferencing Court Room is NOT a Board Room Main Differences between Court Room and Board Room Board Room Can Be Less Formal (no special arrangements) Equipment Can Be Flexible (e.g. sound tracking cameras) Interactive (eye contact important) One Common Language (eye contact important) No Strong Tradition / Ceremony (table vs. table in remote room. everybody sitting) Focus on Remote Desk only (only part of room to be seen) Physical Security (no special arrangements, except for encryption?) Duration usually Fixed (meeting time) Court Room Formal Procedure (regulated by the law) Equipment Must Be Fixed (No Manipulation!) Highly Interactive (body language, reacting to others) Often Multi Language (need for interpreter) Tradition / Ceremony (actors around person to be heard, some actors sit, some stand) Total Room Overview Needed (want to see what is happening) Physical Security (guards in the room, encryption, vandalism-resistant) Duration can be long / unfixed (many small cases / a large case) 8

9 Videoconferencing Designed to conform to True-to-Life 9

10 Videoconferencing More Requirements stated in NL Law Consultation facility to consult one s lawyer (with or without interpreter s assistance, in one or from the other remote location) not to be heard by others Exchange of Documents facility to share and/or exchange documents (either hard- or softcopy, either in file or new in court session) between both locations Secure the authenticity of the reproduction should be assured in that it is indefeasible it should not be possible to (meaningfully) intercept the reproduction Cross-Border Connectivity it should be possible to connect the system to systems outside Netherlands; each system should therefore adhere to ITU standards for ISDN, VPN, Internet and DSL 10

11 Videoconferencing Requirements from Court Practice Usability It must be possible to use court rooms also for non-videoconferencing proceedings alternate between videoconferencing and non-videoconferencing fast change videoconferencing settings between cases fast (~1 minute) And is must be reliable to use (technically stable) easy to use (not too many options / buttons) 11

12 Videoconferencing Why Sharing Best Practices in Europe 1. Due to increasing migration of people within the European Union the number of transnational (cross-border) judicial cases increases; 2. Videoconferencing as a means to do transnational (cross-border) judicial cases can be of great advantage to limit costs and time, to provide convenience and to protect vulnerable persons 3. For videoconferencing to be successful the bottom-line is that each actor in the court room (judge, person to be heard, prosecutor, lawyer, interpreter, clerk, etc.) feels comfortable to do his job. For good quality transnational videoconferencing both VC Facilities must: 1. Have a high quality uninterrupted connection between the two VC Facilities 2. Capture a good quality image and sound for providing this to the remote site 3. Display the image and sound exactly as received from the remote site (weakest link determines the quality!) What you see is what they provide; what you provide is what they see! Therefore we share best practices on what is good quality (True-to-Life). 12

13 Videoconferencing But What About Victims? True-to-Life is developed to help us design videoconferencing facilities in court (and eslewhere) to make videoconferencing a fair alternative to face-to-face for all parties in court proceedings. But is True-to-Life Videoconferencing right for victims and vulnerable persons? What if you, being a victim, are afraid to be confronted with the offender in a court proceeding far from home all alone But yet you want to: testify attend the court proceeding know how the offender feels about it exercise your right to speak in court 13

14 Videoconferencing Victim s Needs 14 Recognition and Respectful Treatment Protection Support Access to Justice Compensation and Restoration 1. Videoconferencing is a way to exercise the victim s right to be heard; whether resident abroad or not, it is an alternative to face-to-face hearing with less difficulties to hear victims, like needless travel, time, costs, inconvenience. 2. Videoconferencing might be less stressful to victims because it is a way to: avoid direct, face-to-face contact with offenders be heard close to the home environment be heard in a safe environment by specialized interviewers avoid joining court proceedings if the victim s hearing is videorecorded still allows the physical presence of an interpreter next to the victim still allows the physical presence of a lawyer next to the victim still exercise the right to speak during the court proceeding more easily be accompanied by a trusted person of their choice access victims support services in the home member state 3. Videoconferencing might facilitate victim-offender mediation if face-to-face is too stressful or in another way less preferred; however, if victims insist to confront their offenders face-to-face, videoconferencing is NOT appropriate

15 Videoconferencing True-to-Life versus Victim s Needs Recognition and Respectful Treatment Protection True-to-Life Quality Videoconferencing is about non-verbal aspects of interaction: a realistic and clear view on what is happening in the remote location all other persons in the remote location being visible looks, facial expressions, mouth movements, direction of view, gestures, posture of each person being noticeable interactions between persons (how they react, when they look at and/or speak to each other) being noticeable As such, True-to-Life supports the victim s right to understand and be understood. 15 Support Access to Justice Compensation and Restoration Measures to deliberately deviate from True-to-Life in case of vulnerable victims: 1-way videoconferencing the victim can passively attend the hearing Voice distortion Image distortion for not revealing the victims identity Time delay between victim s testimony and broadcast to court room Some other safety measures in combination with videoconferencing are: To disguise the victim To hear the victim in another (part of the) building To hear the victim in a special comfortable hearing room To hear and guide the victim by specialized officials

16 Videoconferencing Example 1 a screen + speaker with focus images for nonverbal communication an overview image covering all that happens in the court room can be made available to a victim who wants to attend a court proceeding passively. 16

17 Videoconferencing Example 2 a victim can be heard in court from remote without the need to travel without direct face-to-face contact with the offender with the guidance by a trusted person 17

18 Videoconferencing Example 3 OR a victim can safely attend the court proceeding actively since the offender is heard in court from remote 18

19 Videoconferencing Example 4 - Germany Interview Room for Children decorated in soft colours seating furniture for a relaxed, open sitting position facing the interviewer stuffed toy animals, picture books and drawing utensils connected by videoconferencing to separate room for prosecutor, police and victim s / witness family separate room for defendant and counselor 19

20 Videoconferencing My Main Message to You Videoconferencing can help Victims to exercise their rights Videoconferencing can help Victims to feel safe/convenient True-to-Life quality can cover for Victims: Non-verbal communication All that happens in a the remote (court) room Videoconferencing has technical and non-technical measures to protect the identity of Victims Thank You for Your Attention! 20