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Asian Courts in Times of COVID: Virtualization and the New Normal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2023

Alvin Yeo  and
Hock Keng Chan
Alvin Yeo
Affiliation:
WongPartnership LLP, Singapore
Hock Keng Chan*
Affiliation:
WongPartnership LLP, Singapore
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: hockkeng.chan@wongpartnership.com
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Abstract

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has caused restrictive measures to be established in many sectors including the legal and judicial sector; an example is the use of electronic litigation systems and video-conferencing facilities for trials. With the implementation of changes in the legal and judicial sector to adapt to restrictions arising from the pandemic, there is the question of whether the current rules governing civil-court proceedings are designed to accommodate these changes. This article seeks to explore the measures taken by courts in response to the pandemic with a focus on Asia, notably Singapore. The article will outline the legal basis for the use of live video links for the purpose of witness evidence-taking under Singapore law and the possible implications will be reviewed taking Singapore’s civil proceedings as an example in comparison with other jurisdictions.

Keywords

COVID-19Singaporevirtualtrialvideo link
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 183 - 203
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Asian Journal of Law and Society

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