Videoconferencing, New Public Management and Organizational Reform in the Judiciary
Visioconférence, New public management et réforme organisationnelle dans la justice
Résumé
Videoconference technology allows interactions between citizens and their governments to be
managed without systematic co-presence. It is a relatively discrete innovation, which has been
introduced into bureaucracies all over the world, but still remains underanalyzed and as a
consequence, underestimated in terms of its impact. This article analyzes the introduction and
institutionalization of remote hearings in French courtrooms to shed light on the emergence of
videoconferencing technology as a new way of organizing trials, changing the format by which
justice is carried out. The article reviews the existing literature, outlines the theoretical framework
and methodology, and then presents the results, primarily concerning the history of the introduction
of videoconferencing in French jurisdictions. Four main points of discussion emerge: the way in
which videoconferencing is designed and the reasons put forward to justify its suitability in the
judicial sector; its relationship with the efficiency programs underway in the justice system as part
of wider New Public Management reform; the tensions and friction points between a pragmatic
approach to innovation and the traditional judicial approach; and finally the case of personal
appearance as an example of adjustments operated on judiciary standards by the introduction of
videoconferencing. We close by considering videoconferencing as an instrument of public action,
that is, a technological tool that has progressively realized a public policy objective, in this case
reducing the need to escort detained personnel.
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