ODRŽAVANjE ROČIŠTA NA DALjINU U PARNIČNOM POSTUPKU – NORMATIVNI OKVIR REPUBLIKE SRBIJE I MEĐUNARODNI STANDARDI

Abstract

This paper analyzes the legal rules and standards concerning the conduct of remote court hearings, held via videoconferencing, in civil litigation. In the context of the legal implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, national legal systems have faced an increased need for accelerated digitalization of the judiciary, bringing to the forefront the question of how to ensure that the use of modern technologies in civil proceedings does not result in the restriction of the parties’ procedural rights. The author examines the domestic normative framework, primarily the provisions of the current Civil Procedure Act, and determines the extent to which it enables or limits remote adjudication. The paper then explores relevant European and international standards: the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the CEPEJ Guidelines on the use of videoconferencing in judicial proceedings, the standards of the European Union (the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU recommendations and regulations), along with a comparative-law overview illustrating the application of these standards in practice. Special attention is given to the inherent tension between the tendency toward judicial digitalization and the need to preserve guarantees of procedural rights and fundamental principles of civil procedure. The paper also provides recommendations for improving the domestic normative framework, based on European standards, in order to enable the effective use of remote justice while fully respecting all rights encompassed by the notion of a fair trial.