Facilitating remote court access and virtual family visits
(Rule 26, Chapter 6)
In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNODC and the Moldovan National Prison Administration in 2021 established four e-justice rooms in the country’s most overcrowded detention centres. The rooms feature cabins fitted with videoconference equipment, enabling persons held in detention to remotely participate in their trial, speak with lawyers or prosecutors and communicate with family members, relatives or friends. Minors held in prison remand centres can also use the cubicles to access to online classes and pursue their education.
The new rooms have enabled three times as many requests to attend trials and allowed increased contact with family, with one woman saying they provided a unique opportunity to communicate with her daughters and grandchildren living in France, giving her the strength to keep moving forward and look to life after prison.
For more information see:
UNODC, ‘UNODC Ensures Access to Equitable Justice through e-Justice Rooms in Moldova‘.