Bridging the Distance: The Use of Videoconferencing Technology in Corruption Courts in Indonesia (original) (raw)

Criminal law enforcement in Indonesia, particularly in corruption cases, faces the challenge of high operation costs due to delays in the trial process occasioned by the absence of witnesses. Court delays jeopardize the defendant’s right to an expeditious trial and also hamper society’s need for a speedy and lawful conviction. As an old aphorism says, “justice delayed is justice denied.” The choice on whether to delay the court to obtain witness testimony as evidence or to protect witnesses from being examined in court is a complicated legal matter for law enforcement officers, more especially for judges and prosecutors tasked with ensuring that the justice system is efficient and fair. Fortunately, video conferencing technology has created a viable solution to this challenge. Judges and public prosecutors now have the option of addressing the issue of witness testimony by applying video conferencing technology. In practice, witness testimony provided through video conferencing is accepted depending on the circumstances and facts of the case. However, from the theoretical aspect, there is still intense debate over the validity of a testimony given through video conferencing. This chapter attempts to discuss the legal issues in using video conferencing to obtain evidence in Indonesia’s Special Court for Corruption. It employs a doctrinal research methodology, which includes legal principles and concepts, with a special emphasis on case law and regulations. The findings of this research show that remote witness testimony, mainly obtained through video conferencing technology, should be acknowledged as admissible evidence in Indonesian corruption courts. The use of video conferencing does not conflict with the process of cross- examination, which is a crucial prerequisite in validating witness testimony in criminal cases. Furthermore, the adoption of video conferencing technology in court hearings facilitates the implementation of trials in an efficient, expeditious, and affordable manner, which is also one of the important principles of criminal procedure law in Indonesia. It is expected that this research will provide additional knowledge to enforcement officers, the community, and also scholars interested in criminal procedure law.