A Modern Trial: A Study of the Use of Video-Recorded Testimonies in the Swedish Court of Appeal

Abstract

The essay studies the introduction and use of audio-visual media in contemporary Swedish courtroom praxis and how this affects social interaction and the constitution of judicial space. The background to the study is the increasing use of video technology in law courts during the last decennium, and in particular the reformed trial code regulating court proceedings introduced in Sweden in 2008. The reform is called A Modern Trial (En modernare rättegång, Proposition 2004/05:131). An important innovation is that testimonies in lower level court proceedings now are video recorded and, in case of an appeal trial, then are screened in the appellate court. The study of social interaction and the constitution of judicial space in the essay is based in part on an ethnographic study of the Stockholm appellate court (Svea hovrätt) conducted in the fall 2010; in part on a study of the preparatory works to the legal reform; and in part on research on how media technology affects social interaction and the constitution of space and place.

Citation

Dahlberg, L. (2013), "A Modern Trial: A Study of the Use of Video-Recorded Testimonies in the Swedish Court of Appeal", Sarat, A. (Ed.) Studies in Law, Politics, and Society (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 61), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 81-135. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2013)0000061007