Salibastafrace Legal Partner, Dr. Ian J. Stafrace recently participated in the webinar series by Grant Thornton, entitled “Shaping Malta’s Future: the new norm”.
The session themed “The virtual courtroom: will it enable justice to prevail?” discussed the key areas focusing amongst others:
· the right to an effective justice system – and the impact of COVID-19
· holding court hearings by virtual means
· electronic court filings
· giving testimony by virtual means
Specifically, the webinar debated the adaptation of the court system to new technologies. The discussion analysed the necessity of such measures and amendments to procedures which were mandated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Experiences of tribunals and other entities who have adopted online sittings and submissions were shared and analysed to see whether such systems can work in a court environment.
The session also followed the results of a nationwide survey conducted by Grant Thornton in June 2020 gauging Maltese behaviour in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak from an economic, environmental, and social perspective.