Criminal Justice, Fundamental Rights, and the Rule of law in the Digital Age (Report)

In May 2021, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) Criminal Law Committee met Marco Stefan, one of the authors of the Report on “Criminal Justice, Fundamental Rights, and the Rule of law in the Digital Age”, who presented the report with respect to the Rights of the Defence. 

The CCBE was delighted to have the possibility to contribute to the report, which focused on addressing questions related to: 

• The deployment of remote justice technologies, in particular the use of videoconferencing and remote legal assistance and interviews in judicial proceedings. 

• Ongoing initiatives promoting the use of technologies in EU and national justice systems, with a special focus on the digitalisation of judicial files and electronic exchange of procedural documents, as well as the introduction of new procedures for the collection and exchange of data in cross-border judicial proceedings, and the creation of new tools promoting the interoperability of platforms in criminal justice systems. 

• The legal and ethical implications linked to the deployment of AI in the criminal justice domain. The development and (actual or potential) application of these technologies in the criminal justice domain raise specific questions and issues from a fundamental rights and rule of law perspective. 

The Committee was also delighted to welcome a representative from the Slovenian Presidency who presented the expected activities of the Slovenian Presidency in the area of Criminal Law (the Slovenian Presidency commencing on 1 July). 

The Slovenian Presidency indicated that they will be looking at the protection of human rights in light of challenges posed by new technologies and the use of the Internet, EU accession to the Judgements Convention, e-evidence, AI ethical and fundamental rights aspects, EU accession to the ECHR, and the issue of children’s rights. (ccbe.eu/photo: pixabay.com)

Download the Report here