Pandemic-Driven E-Justice in a Civil Process: Comparative Legal Analysis

Abstract

The aim of the work is to identify gaps in the regulatory framework containing the rules and procedures for the actions of persons participating in the civil law process, in the presence of external factors, namely, during a pandemic, in order to improve procedural legislation based on the relevant experience of different countries. When conducting a study of legislation, judicial acts regulating the possibility of administering justice under quarantine conditions, general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization, forecasting, as well as specific scientific methods - comparative legal, formal logical, forecasting, were used. The regulatory framework, acts of courts regulating the issues of administering justice in conditions of self-isolation were analyzed. The features of the impact of the pandemic on judicial activities in Russia, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the European Union, as well as in the UK were revealed. Remote means of communication with the court were investigated, as well as consideration of a court case in a civil law process using the means of online interaction. In Russia, the pandemic, along with the use of electronic justice through the systems Moy Arbitr and Pravosudie, became an incentive for the introduction of online meetings in arbitration courts, various types of web conferences. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, quarantine measures became the reason for the greater use of the TrueConf service, the mobile courtroom. The European Union increased the interaction of courts in a distance format with the help of the European eJustice portal. The UK is distinguished by its progressive approach to the legislative settlement of the circumstances associated with remote proceedings. The tasks of electronic justice are set, which must be solved by Russia in an emergency situation. In conclusion, the authors infer that the pandemic had an impact on the introduction of new information technologies in the civil process. The technical component of e-justice is important, but it is impossible to ensure its implementation without fixing the procedural rules in the relevant codified sources. Despite the fact that the legal proceedings in Russia are at a high level and an example in this issue for other countries, it is necessary to refer to the experience of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where a special mobile application TrueConf was developed, which does not require stationary equipment and is more accessible to citizens without contacting specialists. As for the UK, in the authors' opinion, it is worth paying attention to the responsiveness of the legislature regarding the issues that need to be resolved in order to normalize the work of the judicial system in emergency situations during the pandemic.