Web conference as a modern model of interaction between the court and participants in the process: shortcomings of legal regulation and prospects for use

The article analyzes the new provisions of civil procedural codes on participation in a court session by using a web conference system. The effectiveness of introducing online hearings into the process is assessed taking into account various factors of interaction between the court and the participants in the process (technical, psychological, legal). At the same time, the key question is whether the guarantees of the civil procedural form are preserved in such communication. The author comes to the conclusion that the existing legal regulation does not allow using the full potential of this modern technology, which could serve to strengthen a number of procedural guarantees. At the same time, insufficient regulation of such a format of interaction creates serious threats to the operation of the principle of immediacy and the closely related principle of objective (judicial) truth. The article suggests expanding the grounds for refusing to participate in court sessions online, and in cases where a legal issue is resolved in court sessions without summoning persons involved in the case, on the contrary, it is proposed to provide for mandatory online meetings.