Given the extreme pressures on the UK court systems at the moment, especially in the criminal justice system, some creative thinking could really help. I spotted this very interesting story on BBC News and thought back to some of the problems parties to (civil) litigation have had in the last couple of years with foreign / immunocompromised witnesses giving evidence in legal proceedings.
Could holograms be the answer? I do not see why not. Currently, witnesses are, where physical attendance is not possible, giving evidence via video-link. This is not new, but the levels of it are certainly unprecedented. The problem with video evidence is that the judge and the barristers do not get to really see the witness and pick up on the non-verbal cues given off by witnesses. Add to that that the witness does not really have the proper 'experience' of giving evidence under the pressure of the court room.
This technology seems to me a potentially excellent solution. I have not seen it in real life, but if it lives up to its billing, the judge(s) and barristers would have a much better view of the witness, and the inconvenience, cost and carbon of sending witnesses around the world to give evidence could be reduced.
I'd give it a go.
Where the person is actually physically standing - and that can be on the other side of the world from the portal machine - he or she just needs a camera, a plain backdrop, and another set of speakers and microphones.
unknownx500
