All jurisdictions across Canada were surveyed regarding the current state of video conferencing in each of the jurisdictions.
Some of the information gathered included answers to:
- What video conferencing technology is available to you in your jurisdiction on your bench?
- Which levels of Court use the technology?
- Is the equipment cable based or internet based?
- Is the video capability in the courthouse or accessible outside the court site?
- When have you used it? Please briefly explain how frequently you have used it.
- How do you use this equipment? What type of matters? (i.e. An occasional use for an expert or locally unavailable witness in another jurisdiction or more frequently for non-contested or contested matters) Please provide details.
- If you have not used this technology yet can you identify whether you would like to explore the use of video conferencing in your daily work? If so, how would you like to see this develop?
Summary of Survey
Please note that the individual survey responses provide significantly more detail. This is intended as a summary.
Number of Jurisdictions Responding: 8
Number of jurisdictions using
· ISDN (telephone cable) 2
· IP (internet) 2
· Both 4
Number of jurisdictions using video conference in the following levels of court:
· Appeal 7
· Supreme 6
· Provincial/Family 6
Number of jurisdictions using video conference equipment to support the following activities.
· Hearings 5
· Bail/Remand 3
· Administrative 8
· Vulnerable Witness
· Settlement Conferences 1
· First appearances 1
Type of Equipment by make. (The survey lists specific models too)
· Tandberg 5
· Polycom 1
· Sony 2