Judges perform an important role on behalf of society, as impartial decision-makers, interpreting and applying the law, presiding over courtrooms and ensuring a fair trial. The image of the judge – how they are viewed culturally – reinforces their role, emphasising their authority and neutrality, thus supporting the legitimacy of the court as an institution. Increasingly, judges use video conferencing where either they, or other participants, are located away from the courtroom. Reporting on a three-year empirical study, this paper argues that the introduction of video-conferencing technologies in court has had a profound impact on the production, management and consumption of judicial images, with implications for the role of the judge. Video links challenge cultural assumptions about how the role of the judge is performed and what the image of the judge should be. We argue that greater congruence needs to be achieved over video links between that image and the role of the judge.

中文翻译：

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远程评判：视频链接对形象的影响及评委的作用

法官代表社会发挥重要作用，作为公正的决策者，解释和适用法律，主持法庭并确保公平审判。法官的形象——他们在文化上的看法——强化了他们的角色，强调了他们的权威和中立，从而支持了法院作为一个机构的合法性。越来越多的法官在他们或其他参与者远离法庭的地方使用视频会议。本文报道了一项为期三年的实证研究，认为在法庭上引入视频会议技术对司法图像的生产、管理和消费产生了深远的影响，并对法官的角色产生了影响。视频链接挑战了关于法官角色如何发挥以及法官形象应该是什么样的文化假设。我们认为，需要通过该图像与法官角色之间的视频链接来实现更大的一致性。