In March 2024, the third study visit took place in Düsseldorf at the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia. Participants included project partners from Austria, Spain, Portugal and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as well as from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. The delegation's two-day visit started in the rooms of the Ministry of Justice in North Rhine-Westphalia, and began with a warm welcome by the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf, who emphasized in her welcome speech the great importance of the project and the relevance of simplifying video conferencing technology within the European Union for the judiciary. After a short informal exchange between the participants, the consortium meeting continued with an analysis of the previous findings from the previous study visits as well as the interviews conducted with EU member states and third countries. The first valuable, fundamental conclusions could be drawn from these previous findings. This was followed by an intensive exchange between the project partners on expert literature evaluated by the project partners. Eventually, the basic regulatory structure for the use of video conferencing technology under German law in the different jurisdictions was presented to the participants by the hosting partners. 

The following day began with a visit to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. There, the project partners were first introduced to the video conferencing system Join by Cisco (on-premise) used by this court in a courtroom which is used for oral hearings in civil proceedings. After the video conference technology was presented to the delegation via a live broadcast, judges and technicians were available to answer questions from the participants. A fruitful exchange arose about not just about technical questions, but also about legal questions about the use of video conferencing technology under German law. The project partners then visited the Unified Patent Court located at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, where WebEX by Sisco as a different technical solution is in use. The participants were introduced to the video conferencing technology, which differed in some key points from the technology used in civil proceedings. This international court, with its headquarters also being in Düsseldorf, uses video conferencing technology largely across borders. Not least because of this, there was a lively exchange between the project partners and the judges working at this court as well as the technicians who are in charge for the video conferencing technology. After a guided tour of the more than 120-year-old building of the Higher Regional Court with explanations of the historical frescoes and paintings in the meeting rooms, the study visit ended in Düsseldorf.

by Henning Bierhaus, Lena Hierl