“Are Remote Criminal Proceedings Just and Fair Proceedings?”, Nr.S-PD-22-57

Project No. S-PD-22-57             
Project title: „Are Remote Criminal Proceedings Just and Fair Proceedings?”
Project duration: from 2022-11-03 to 2024-10-31
Postdoctoral supervisor: prof. dr. Rima Ažubalytė

Postdoctoral trainee: Indrė Žukovaitė

Summary: This project aims to research remote criminal proceedings in court in order to streamline the proceedings and, at the same time, ensure the effective participation of the parties in criminal proceedings and the court’s obligation to administer substantive and procedural justice. This research tests the hypothesis that remote criminal proceedings do not in themselves violate the fundamental principles of criminal procedure, however, their implementation must ensure the right of the parties to effective legal remedies and a fair trial and, only then, must address the issues of procedural economy, speed and flexibility/functionality of the application of technologies. In order to ensure that changes in the regulation of criminal proceedings are in line with fair trial standards, this research will provide answers to the questions what conditions – first of all, legal and only then organisational – are required for remote criminal proceedings to ensure respect for the parties and enable their effective participation in public proceedings, to create conditions for quality legal defense and its accessibility, to give a correct impression to the party that they are heard and that the court is impartial and fair. The research will serve as a basis for developing a theoretical model for remote criminal proceedings in Lithuania to ensure a balance between the intention to have innovative, cost-effective and flexible criminal proceedings and the positive obligation of the State to ensure the rights of participants in proceedings to just and fair criminal proceedings.