Research On Australia's Remote Trial System

The development of modern information technology has changed the way people live and communicate.As part of social life,judicial proceedings are also inevitably involved in the trend of technological development.How to coordinate the use of new information and communication technology to improve judicial efficiency and manage the court litigation process has becomes a common problem considered by the courts all over the world.In this background,in order to promote and deepen the modernization of the trial system and the trial capacity of the court,remote trial emerged as the time requires.It is undeniable that the original intention of remote trial is to save judicial resources and improve judicial efficiency;this is also the advantage of the application of information technology in the administration of justice.However,in recent years,the judicial interpretation concerning the remote trial in our country has paid too much attention to the judicial efficiency while little has paid to the procedural structure and procedural fairness of remote trial.Therefore,the application of remote trial in judicial practice has a certain degree of arbitrariness.So standardizing the application of remote trial and strengthening the guarantee of fairness of remote trial procedure have become the urgent issue that need to be solved in our country.Australia is one of the earliest countries in the world to apply remote trial technology.In general,the combination of information technology and the administration of justice is one of the trends of civil litigation reform in west countries since the end of the 20 th century.The delay of the judicial process and the burden of the litigation cost are the driving factors to promote the informatization reform of the court.In Australia,remote trial technology was initially used to obtain evidence from juveniles or vulnerable witnesses in criminal proceeding and then gradually extended to other proceedings.Different from our country that regards judicial efficiency as the primary goal and effect of remote trial,Australian courts pay more attention to the guarantee of procedural fairness in the process of remote trial.Due process principle is an important traditional legal concept of common law system.The procedural guarantees of remote trial in Australia is not only embodied in statutory legislation but also in the process of strict and substantial judgment reasoning.Studying the content of remote trial in Australia from theperspective of comparative law can provide a standardized guidance for remote trial in our country.Therefore,the author expects to strengthen the importance of procedural justice in electronic judicial field such as remote trial in China by introducing the content of remote trial in Australia.In addition to the abstract and conclusion,this paper is divided into five chapters,the main contents are as follows:The first chapter is the introduction.This part mainly introduces the research background,research significance and the current research situation of remote trial in China and Australia.The second chapter is the historical change of Australian remote trial.This part mainly introduces the origin and development of remote trial in Australia,and then makes a systematic introduction to the main contents of the remote trial combined with the legislative situation of remote trial.The third chapter is the challenge of Australian remote trial to the traditional litigation idea.This part mainly introduces the impact on the concept of fair trial and open justice in the litigation procedure under the mode of remote trial,and puts forward how to maintain the tradition of fair trial and open justice in the information background.The fourth chapter is the guarantee of procedural impartiality of remote witness in Australia.This part mainly introduces the protection of the procedural interests of the litigants and witnesses in the process of remote trial from the remote witness aspect in Australian court.It will be expounded from four points: the right to objection,the right to cross-examination,the judge's instructions to the jury,the supply of private communication facilities between witnesses and lawyers.The fifth chapter is the enlightenment of Australian remote trial to our country.The main contents are as follows: balancing the pursuit of litigation efficiency and the guarantee of procedural fairness in remote trial to achieve assess to justice;defining the position of remote trial,applicable scope of cases and the subject of procedure initiation;establishing the procedure conversion mechanism between remote trial and ordinary trial and the cooperation platform of remote trial.