The COVID-19 pandemic forced justice systems to adjust to completely new realities and work methods. The Justice Studies Center of the Americas (JSCA) and the Institute for Comparative Studies in the Criminal and Social Sciences (INECIP) address this topic in a new edition of the journal. Specifically, the authors address how technology has been used at the service of justice in response to the current situation and the different realities of civil and criminal justice systems in Latin America.
Structure
The journal, which was coordinated by Ignacio Andrioli and Laura Cora Bogani, opens with an Editorial by journal directors Gonzalo Rua and Leonel González Postigo.
The main topic is addressed on the basis of eight Latin American experiences with justice and technology. These experiences are narrated by Genoveva Ferrero, Sergio Muñoz Gajardo, Daniela Dupuy, Laura Verdín Brenist, Alejandra Alliaud, Carlos Núñez Núñez, Ana María Ramos Serrano, Julio Rodríguez and Mariano Renolfi.
The section Reflections describes critical areas of justice and technology based on six research positions. Some are related to artificial intelligence and criminal intelligence, the rules regarding admissibility of evidence, the challenges faced by judicial offices, technology in criminal proceedings, the protocols used to hold remote hearings in the context of COVID-19, and the risks of holding criminal jury trials using virtual tools.
The section General Topic includes a study on the need to produce statistical information for decision-making. The case of Panama’s State Prosecution Service is mentioned.
Interviews with four specialists from the region conducted by Ignacio Andrioli are included in the Debates section. They focus on three questions: How did the judiciary respond to the pandemic? How have requests for release been handled? How have virtual oral trials been assessed?
Finally, the Book Reviews section addresses the publications Comparative Study on Civil Procedure Reforms in Latin America (JSCA) and Jury and Citizen Participation in Justice Administration Collection (INECIP).
Click here to download Issue No. 24 of Judicial Systems Journal.