How to fight the overcrowding of prisons and slow justice. A success story from distant Australia.

Among the public administration sectors that can benefit more from business video conferencing, there is the judicial one. In addition to the well-known cost and time savings, the ability to connect to remote video also improves security and reduces the stress of detainees and penitentiary police. In Italy, one of the most prominent advocates of videoconference is the anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, who has repeatedly called for her introduction to our judicial system. If there is still a lot to be done in our country, in others the systematic use of videoconferencing for the hearings of detainees, listening to witnesses and other similar activities is already a reality.

The Australian case

Anglo-Saxon countries, often at the forefront in science and technology, are among the most credible of the videoconferencing potential of the judiciary. It is the case of Australia, where listening to the testimonies of detainees in a court video conferencing, without moving them from jail, is bound to become a daily practice. The country, in fact, faces an increase in the prison population which presents uncommon challenges in terms of costs and staff. Video conference systems have already been installed in four prisons and 11 state courtrooms in Victoria to respond to the growing demand for court hearings in recent years. It is the same magistrate leader Peter Lauritsen to explain that extending the use of free group video conferencing in the courts allows to hold more hearings and more types. In particular, when hearings concern domestic violence, people may choose to remotely connect, even from a simple webconference tablet, thus relieving the emotional impact and the stress generated by these situations. Teleconferences also reduce administrative costs related to attorney prison visits.