Open Justice in the Digital Age

This book discusses the principle of open justice with a focus on the mechanism of video streaming of court proceedings. The principle of open justice is multidimensional and involves both the human right to a fair trial and freedom of expression. The book distinguishes between three components of open justice: public hearings, media coverage of proceedings, and publication of judgments. All three have been and/or could be substantially affected by the digital revolution: public hearings could benefit from video streaming, the media coverage from social media, and the publication of judgments from online databases. The book analyses recent advances and challenges related to the digitalization of open justice. Particular attention is paid to the relevant case law of European courts, to the impact of the GDPR with an emphasis on the sensitive issue of pseudonymizing judgments, and to a comparison of various national practices. Although the book’s primary focus is on European law, it will also be of interest to scholars from other continents, either for purposes of comparative research, or because the topic itself touches on general theory of law issues.