Justitia 4.0 – the pros and cons of digital court proceedings and notarial records in Hungary

In Hungary, a comprehensive digitalisation of court proceedings began in 2017, which enables the parties to communicate electronically with the courts and submit their pleadings electronically to the courts. In addition, electronic means are increasingly being used to conduct hearings. For example, digital communication channels have been introduced nationwide, video and audio transmission enabled in the courtroom, as well as the use of speech recognition and transcription software heavily promoted. The introduction of these procedures or means has enabled the courts to increase the transparency of the proceedings and to accelerate the administrative work. Digitisation has also accelerated in the notary offices in recent years so that almost all registers are kept electronically and dunning procedures, for example, can be processed electronically.

In September 2018, the VIA VIDEO project was launched in Hungary, where customised digital communication systems were installed in around 180 meeting rooms throughout the country. This made it much easier to question the defendants or witnesses without having to travel to a court hearing in another part of the country, which saves time and money. As part of the project, a video and audio recording was introduced in the courtroom, which guarantees precise and realistic file management of the proceedings. When reviewing the records, the judge can retrieve any part of the hearing or add his/her own notes to a point in the record. In the future, this technological innovation will probably completely replace the classic file management.

Autor: Beatrix Fakó