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10 January 2014 / Penny Cooper
Issue: 7589 / Categories: Opinion
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Is virtual witness testimony legal fact or largely fiction, asks Penny Cooper

At the beginning of the 90s the technophiles and “early adopters” in the legal profession got laptops and mobile phones. Twenty years later, no one bats an eyelid at e-disclosure, e-filing, e-document management, “tablets” in court and simultaneous transcripts. Even the “paperless trial” is now fact (Berezovsky v Abramovich [2012] EWHC 2463 (Comm)) as opposed to legal fiction. In another 20 years will technological advances mean that appearances in the witness box will be replaced by video evidence? The early signs are that they might. Live video links to witnesses and pre-recorded testimony present obvious time and money saving benefits. The first is already specifically provided for in the Civil Procedures Rules and the second is as well if r 32.3 is given a broad interpretation: “The court may allow a witness to give evidence through a video link or by other means.”

Venue shifting

Internal links to a witness room within the criminal court building can be provided for a witness who

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