I’m not a cat! Remote criminal justice and a human-centred approach to the legitimacy of the trial

Published date01 April 2023
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X231193214
AuthorChristina Peristeridou,Dorris de Vocht
Date01 April 2023
Im not a cat! Remote criminal
justice and a human-centred
approach to the legitimacy of
the trial
Christina Peristeridou* and Dorris de Vocht**
Abstract
The rise of remote criminal justice
The pandemic forced many activities to go online, with the transition having sometimes unex-
pected consequences. During a civil forfeiture hearing before the Texas394th Judicial District
Court, conducted remotely, one attorney appeared as a cat, because of a f‌ilter on his video settings.
1
During an online hearing for a domestic abuse case, the shocking revelation was made that the
defendant and the victim were actually in the same house together, both participating online to
the hearing.
2
The Covid-19 pandemic forced courts in jurisdictions in Western legal systems to
deal with urgent criminal cases in line with social distancing rules. For most legal systems the solu-
tion was found in technology. Yet, when we think of criminal trials, we mainly imagine impressive
courtrooms, judges in robes, prosecutors and defence lawyers trying to convince the court and the
defendant present in court on a chair in front of the judge or more separated in a dock. Over the last
few years, however, this picture has changed.
Using online videoconferencing platforms, such as Zoom, defendants and witnesses may appear
remotely in court. The use of remote hearings during the Covid pandemic highlighted their f‌inancial
*
Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
**
Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
Corresponding author:
Christina Peristeridou, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Email: c.peristeridou@maastrichtuniversity.nl
1. ‘‘Im not a cat: lawyer gets stuck on Zoom kitten f‌ilter during court case,Guardian News (2021), https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=lGOofzZOyl8&ab_channel=GuardianNews (accessed 10 July 2023).
2. Domestic violence suspect arrested at accusers apartment during virtual court hearing,MLive (2021), https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=-8DApY7OE90&ab_channel=MLive (accessed 10 July 2023).
Editorial
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2023, Vol. 30(2) 97106
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1023263X231193214
maastrichtjournal.sagepub.com

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