An EU co-funded project which aimed at strengthening access to justice and upholding a standard of respect for all parties—suspects, victims, and witnesses—both adults and children—in the criminal justice process

Background

Technology has the potential to speed up the criminal process and reduce the burden on victims, witnesses, and the accused. Digital tools like remote hearings and video-recorded pretrial interviews can improve safety, support vulnerable participants, preserve witness memories, and reduce costs, especially in cross-border cases. However, concerns have been raised about fairness, the stress and cognitive load it may place on legal professionals, and potential negative impacts on communication between participants, affecting their sense of being truly heard. While some studies suggest that technology can help vulnerable witnesses, such as young victims, feel less stressed, there are findings indicating that judges may be biased toward live testimony over remote statements.

In many countries, video-recorded interviews are becoming more common in court to improve the quality of evidence, decrease the risk of re-traumatization, and reduce false confessions. Practices vary across Europe, and children may still face stressful in-person appearances. To protect their rights, it’s crucial that interviews be conducted in a victim-friendly manner and that professionals are well-trained in handling such sensitive cases.

The ultimate goal of the E-ViVi project is to strengthen access to justice and uphold a standard of respect for all parties — suspects, victims, and witnesses — both adults and children — in the criminal justice process.

By expanding knowledge around the use of remote hearings and recorded pretrial investigations as evidence in court, the project aims to develop best practice guidelines for justice actors to ensure that digital measures are used in a safe and evidence-based way. Remote hearings can reduce stress for parties, ensure swifter proceedings, and eliminate the need for travel. The use of video-recorded pretrial interviews as evidence helps prevent retraumatization of victims, who no longer need to testify again in court.

At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that remote hearings do not infringe upon the procedural rights of suspects or their right to legal aid. The project focuses specifically on how the increasing digitalization of criminal proceedings affects the encounters and hearings of parties, and how the capacity of criminal justice actors can be strengthened in this context.

Project partners:

• Project coordinators Julia Korkman and Anni Lietonen at Heuni, Finland
• Dorris de Vocht, Tilburg University, Netherlands
• Shawnna von Blixen-Finecke, Barnahus Network, Sweden
• Laura Ervo, School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden
• Lisa Flower, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University, Sweden