Criminal Investigation and Criminal Trial by Video Conference

It is not hidden from anyone the slowness of the litigation system in Egypt and the lawsuits that remain in the courts, which may sometimes reach decades of years, and what happened in the events of the January Revolution of burning some courts, which led to the burning of lawsuits and documents of lawsuits inside these courts, and this resulted in the loss of the rights of some citizens. It was necessary to introduce an electronic litigation system that aims to enhance the speed of litigation, achieve justice, and preserve lawsuits from destruction and damage.

The Ministry of Justice cooperated in this field with technical and technological cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and with judicial and administrative cooperation with various judicial bodies and authorities. Other small digitization projects were also launched during the past three years between some judicial bodies and authorities and the Ministry of Communications.

Remote procedures for criminal investigation and trial

The Ministry of Justice has introduced, in the field of contemporary criminal justice, remote communication technology, which reflects a stage in the development of criminal procedures, reflecting the trend towards benefiting from modern technology in developing the performance of criminal justice, which has already approved the use of this technology in the field of remote criminal investigation or trial.

The video conferencing technology is also considered a modern mean or mechanism for conducting remote criminal investigations or trial procedures.
In some cases, it is used to hear the testimony of witnesses and those cooperating with the justice to uncover the mystery of serious crimes, especially organized ones, and also the trial of the accused, despite their presence inside the penal institutions, before a court that may be hundreds of miles away from these institutions.

And also, to achieve some considerations, the most important of which is ensuring the effectiveness of criminal prosecution procedures, speeding up the settlement of cases, reducing the expenses incurred by the state in the process of transporting accused persons, especially dangerous ones, from their places of detention to the court headquarters to attend trials, protecting the victim, the witnesses and others cooperating with justice.

Steps to prepare the halls, devices and communication equipment required to conduct remote trials

The Ministry of Justice, in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Interior and the relevant authorities and ministries to prepare the halls and communication devices required to implement remote procedures in the competent authorities, penal institutions and other relevant departments, and provide the necessary technical assistance for this, including providing courtrooms with sufficient display screens and the technology required to implement and facilitate remote trials, as well as providing prisons and police stations with sufficient display screens for the accused to appear before judges and members of the Public Prosecution Office so that the accused can present their defense and legal arguments.

Mechanism of Remote Trials

The country has created a training plan to qualify employees and workers in the courts to develop their performance, especially with regard to digitization and other electronic steps in dealing with cases.

The Ministry of Justice has provided the ministry’s website to provide the legal encyclopedia, which is a service for members of judicial bodies and authorities, providing them with the legal information necessary to perform their work and enabling them to obtain all awards and legislations, and added that the e-mail service for members of judicial bodies provides a secure system for correspondence between them and between judicial bodies of different degrees, and has introduced an electronic lawsuit registration system and electronic litigation.

Remote detention renewal as a part of the digitization procedures of the litigation system

In 2020, the Egyptian Ministry of Justice announced the launch of a remote pretrial detention renewal system following the outbreak of the Coronavirus, for public health and safety concerns, and also in order to take serious measures to change the Egyptian litigation system to digital litigation by starting to consider pretrial detention renewal sessions remotely using video conference technology, which means that the accused will not be transferred from his prison to attend the detention renewal session in person, to be directly before his judge and lawyer. Rather, the accused will remain in his place of detention and watch the session by connecting via the electronic devices.

Only the investigating judge and lawyer will be in the courtroom, according to what the Egyptian Ministry of Justice stated, in order to save the costs of transporting and securing the accused to the courtroom and achieve prompt justice, and speed up the adjudication of cases.

It had started between linking the New Cairo Court and Tora Public Prison and the 15th of May prison and Nahda Central Prisons, which was preceded by this decision by Article No. 8 of Law No. 22 of 2020, amending some provisions of the State of Emergency Law, by referring to the exception of detention renewal sessions from the scope of the ruling to suspend the validity of procedural dates during the declaration of a state of emergency during the pandemic, as part of precautionary measures and procedures taken by the state to limit the spread of the Coronavirus.

In an attempt to legalize the legal procedures for considering detention renewal sessions, due to the invalidity of detention renewal decisions issued by judges and the prosecution during the period of prison and detention center closures, as detention renewal sessions were considered during that period without the presence of the accused from their prison.

Subsequently, the Minister of Justice issued Decree No. 8901 of 2021 to give legislative cover to this matter and then generalize it and provide legal protection to it. The text of the decree stated in its first provision, “With due consideration of all legal guarantees, the judges may hold hearings to consider the renewal and appeal of pretrial detention remotely using technology.”

Does remote trial conflict with the principle of confrontation?

The accused may face some difficulties in the hearing of the remote renewal of detention.

Remote detention renewal hearings deprive the accused of being examined by his judge, especially since practical experience in some courts in such sessions has shown that there is a stumbling block in hearing the accused or communicating with him, as well as the accused himself hearing what is going on in the detention renewal hearings, which eliminates the last hope for the accused to receive a fair trial.

The Egyptian Constitution has assured the necessity of providing a minimum level of guarantees in criminal trials to be fair and just, as per provision 96 of the Constitution. One of the most prominent of these guarantees is the right of the accused to defend himself, which was approved by the Egyptian legislator, as he is the original opponent in the case, and he has the right to a fair trial in which he is allowed to present whatever defense he wants despite his assistance from a lawyer and presenting his arguments, and the court is entitled to evaluate these arguments in a fair and just manner.

The legislator aimed to achieve the principles of justice and sanctify the right to defense during the investigation and trial and guarantee it in both cases in a decisive and true manner, as the accused is the first party concerned with defending himself, and the text on the necessity of appointing a lawyer for him in felony cases and permitting him to do so in misdemeanor and contravention cases was only to assist and help him in the defense.

Also, the video conference technology will prevent the investigating judge from looking at the accused carefully and discussing his condition, and if there is harm that has occurred to him during his detention, the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code have confirmed the necessity of hearing the accused during the investigation hearing. Therefore, how can the accused defend himself and discuss with the judge freely if he is separated from him and his lawyer and communication between them is via video call?

Conclusion

Therefore, the remote criminal investigation and trial procedures must take into account that they provide the accused with the right to a fair and just trial do not violate the right to guarantee the right to defense, and do not impose restrictions or restraints on the accused to enable the accused to access a fair and just trial. It is possible to introduce some modifications to this good idea in itself, but it may have some obstacles that can be overcome in the future.