Between Fair and Speedy Trial: E-Court During Pandemic and A Challenge in Society 5.0

Abstract

Indonesian authorities impose restrictions on community activities to control the spread of Covid-19 infection. It impacts the court activities, including the criminal trial process. Therefore, the Indonesia Supreme Court issued a regulation that imposed the electronic court process on a criminal trial to solve this situation. The research aims to analyze the implementation of electronic courts, especially in the criminal trial during the pandemic Covid-19 in Depok District Court. The research is qualitative with a socio-legal approach. Data collection is obtained through in-depth interviews and observation. The result shows that the court focused on a speedy trial. However, there is a lack of quality of a fair trial, and, subsequently, it harms the defendant’s rights. The electronic court will be widely used in society 5.0, where technology is highly used to integrate cyberspace and physical space. It requires a shifting paradigm from face-to-face contact to virtual contact. It becomes a challenge and may impact the decision-making process. Therefore, in the post-pandemic Covid-19 era, the court requires reviewing and improving the electronic court process, which provides the advanced technology to support the electronic trial and is more critical to guarantee access to a fair trial in the electronic court process.