Conclusion 19

Transform Justice told us that most testing done by HMCTS is ‘process-based’ and does not look at the outcomes. We explored this issue in the context of video hearings. The Bar Council criticised the scope of the pilot for video testing, while the Law Society told us of research in the USA that found “where judges and decision-makers engage with people over a video link, they have a lower degree of empathy than when dealing with someone face-to-face.”44 Similarly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission flagged several concerns about the use of video hearings increasing unfairness, limiting access to justice and potentially impacting court outcomes.45