헤이그증거협약을 통한 국제화상재판

As COVID-19 continues, online conference is becoming every day life. Courts are increasingly under pressure to use proceedings with video-link. Generally speaking, international legal grounds are needed for courts to take evidence from witnesses or experts abroad because exercise of the judicial power belongs to exercise of the sovereign power. The Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters has been a legal authority for courts to take evidence abroad. The Convention was adopted in 1970 before video-link had not yet emerged. The Convention provides for the system of judicial assistance, where the requested state executes the request by the requesting state. The state practice under the Convention, however, shows that in many countries an indirect investigation using vido-link is possible, where judicial personnel of the forum state take part the execution of the request through video-link performed in the requested state. The state practice whether a state could take the testimony directly using video-link from witnesses abroad varies. The practice of direct investigation, however, is likely to increase as the use of video-link increases. Analyzing the state practice of using video-link under the Convention, and regional and bilateral treaties would be critical in the future.