Taiwan’s justice system has a bit of a problem: some areas just don’t have enough judges. To solve this problem, courts are turning to technology.
What do you think of when you hear the words “video conference”? For most of us, these words likely conjure up images of the corporate world- images of sales figures and board meetings. But in Taiwan, at least, they may soon conjure up images of law and order as well.
That’s because the justice system here is experimenting with the idea of “robo-judges”- human judges presiding over court proceedings remotely via video link. The idea has already been tried out at the Taiwan Shilin District Court in Taipei. “Digital Minister” Audrey Tang herself took part in the exercise, sitting in for a real judge.
The hope is that the same technology that lets you remotely share data about fourth quarter earnings will soon allow judges to remotely deal with caseloads in parts of Taiwan that don’t have enough judges. There is also talk of allowing the remote questioning of witnesses, saving the justice system both time and resources.