Justice Ministry’s ‘e-hearing’ system now available in all provinces

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - Archive

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Justice Ministry's "e-hearing" (e-duruşma) system has entered into force in all provinces of Turkey as of today (November 9).

In a message on his social media account earlier today, Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gül said, "'E-hearing', which allows visual and audio attendance to hearings, has started to be used in our 81 provinces as of today. With this system developed by the engineers of our Ministry, our lawyers can access 1,400 civil courts. May it be beneficial for our lawyers and citizens."

'Hearings should be held face-to-face'

Speaking to bianet about how this new method would affect the legal proceedings and the right to a fair trial, lawyer Dr. Güray Dağ previously noted that especially amid the pandemic, this method might be useful in hearings where only procedural proceedings would be held.

However, he also raised concerns that it would have a negative effect on legal proceedings as to the merits in both civil and penal suits:

"In hearings where the witnesses and defendants are to be heard, the hearings where legal proceedings as to the merits will be held or the statements of the parties will be heard need to take place in a face to face manner. Legally speaking, e-hearing might cause problems about hearing the parties in terms of the principle of immediateness.

"Sometimes, in a hearing, a judge looks at the behavior of a person and tries to infer whether he or she tells the truth based on that. Also, when the parties ask questions to witnesses or defendants or when a person is interrogated to find out the truth, this method might lead to problems. It might not always be possible to bring out the truth in an e-hearing."

Güray Dağ says that lawyers are against the use of Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS) in penal lawsuits and adds that this method could lead to problems in civil lawsuits as well:

"For instance, in business lawsuits, we had the opportunity to find out whether the witnesses are false or not or we had the chance to reveal a statement contrary to facts by asking questions. However, it might not be always possible in an e-hearing.

"Or, say, we ask whether the signature on a document belongs to a certain person or not... It is difficult to do with SEGBİS or e-hearing."

How will "e-hearing" work?

With this new system, lawyers can search their hearings at the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP) Lawyer Portal and send their requests until 24 hours before the hearing by writing their justification.

If the judge accepts the request on this system, the lawyer will be able to attend the hearing via videoconference. e-hearing will start when the court activates the system. The software of the system has been designed by the engineers of Justice Ministry and lawyers will attend the hearing with their e-signatures following an identity authentication.

After the judge confirms the information and photo on the UYAP system, the hearing will start. Security measures such as facial recognition and fingerprints are also planned to be added to the system in time.

There are also works to enable experts to attend the hearing via e-hearing. (AS/SD)