Court hearings on MS Teams platform

This innovation in the operations of the courts of the Republic of Latvia is a positive one and it provides a positive perspective in regard to the implementation of technological solutions in court proceedings after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The use of modern technologies allows the parties to the case and witnesses, as well as lawyers, to participate at the court hearing.

The lawyers can participate at remote court hearings from their offices without wasting time getting to the court premises. The implementation of remote court hearings after COVID-19 would be especially important in the context of regulating the workload of courts, when cases are filed for adjudication to the court in another city. The implementation of remote court hearings can also improve the efficiency of proceedings and reduce the time necessary for adjudicating the cases.

However, remote court hearings cannot completely replace hearings held in the premises of the court. Especially in cases when there is a large amount of written evidence. Court cases are stored on paper and the simultaneous review of these materials by the court and parties to the case is not currently provided in remote court hearings.