Jurisdiction Takes on Technology

This Saturday, territorial-based approaches to jurisdiction will be challenged and, hopefully, expanded to accommodate multijurisdictional international cases within domestic courts. Through the use of videoconferencing and the state-of-the-art courtroom at the William and Mary School of Law, two courts will concurrently hear and decide on a transborder child abduction case. The two courts represent civil courts in Virginia, the United States, and in Monterrey, Mexico. Judge John J. Specia, Jr. of Texas will preside over the court in Virginia. The intent of the experimental trial will be to enable real-time collaboration between the two courts for the purpose of producing concurrent rulings.

The experimental case of “Blossom v. Blossom” involves the issues of custody and parental access. A wife returns to her native Mexico with one of her two children, leaving her husband and one child in Virginia. The husband seeks the return of his abducted child, but is limited by the constraints of the Hague Convention and lack of the U.S. jurisdiction over a child located in another country. Moreover, U.S. custody decrees are not automatically enforceable outside the country. Thus, the collaboration with the Mexican courts is necessary for an enforceable ruling in both countries. Complicating matters, the wife alleges spousal and child abuse. Courtroom Connect will provide the documentary evidence of the case online.

The use of videoconferencing and video testimony in courts is not new. However, the application of technology is typically limited to a trial before a single court, rather than before multiple courts simultaneously. For example, in 2003, an Internet child pornography trader under house detention in Norway provided testimony to a New Zealand court. In Malaysia, suspects in custody gave video testimony that was provided to Indonesian prosecutors. In the United States and the United Kingdom, prisoners have attended hearings via videoconference. The experiment this Saturday takes the use of technology one step further and seeks to redefine jurisdictional limits through real-time collaboration of one nation with the laws and institutions of another.

Looking forward, other multijurisdictional cases may benefit from the use of technology to facilitate concurrent rulings, particularly when a unilateral decision from one nation is not enforceable in another. Other potential areas of application include:

Refugee smuggling
Drug trafficking
International IP infringement
Transborder environmental disputes

Additional Resources