E-ViVi. Enhancing Videorecorded Interviews and Virtual Hearings in Europe

This project is co-funded by the European Union.

The E-ViVi project aims to improve the ways in which people are heard digitally in criminal proceedings through creating best practice recommendations and strengthening the capacity of criminal justice actors.

Specific project objectives

• Establish concrete best practice recommendations based on assessments of existing efforts in the EU by collecting practitioners' experiences and summarizing research on the use of video-recorded interviews of parties (including victims, witnesses, and suspects; children and adults) and remote hearings in court;
• Strengthen the capacity of key criminal justice professionals to make the best use of video-recorded and online evidence, while ensuring respect for the rights of victims and the procedural rights of suspects (both children and adults);
• Increase international exchange of best practices through dissemination activities.

Planned project outputs:

• European best practice recommendations for remote hearings in court with adult parties;
• Protocol and guidance for interviewing child suspects;
• Guidance for lawyers on how to ensure effective protection of procedural safeguards for child victims and suspects;
• Legal summary of obligations on video recording of child testimonials;
• Ground rules for remote court hearings of children;
• Summary of best practices on video recording child interviews with victims and witnesses.

As the two-year project nears its conclusion, we will develop online training courses and host national and international webinars to share our publications.

Contact project coordinator Julia Korkman and Anni Lietonen for more information. We are happy to explore possibilities for cooperation with experts and practitioners in the field of remote hearings.

Project partners' contacts:
Dr Dorris de Vocht, Tilburg University
Shawnna von Blixen-Finecke,  Barnahus Network
Laura Ervo Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki
Dr Lisa FlowerDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences | Lund University