5 October, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The Economic Court of Vitebsk Region held its first interactive court hearing using a videoconferencing system based at a district executive committee, as reported to BELTA by Olga Gatilo, a judge of the Economic Court of Vitebsk Region. The Supreme Economic Court of Belarus initiated the organisation of videoconferencing based at district executive committees, the interlocutor explained. In Vitebsk Region, the first such system was launched at the Rossony District Executive Committee, which enabled the remote hearing where the judge and the plaintiff were located in different settlements: the judge in Vitebsk, and the plaintiff, who filed a claim for the issuance of an enforcement order for the compulsory execution of the Arbitration Commission's decision, in Rossony. Modern technical means have reduced the time taken for court hearings and saved the applicant travel expenses. With the development of the videoconferencing system, such practice will only expand, emphasised the court representative. In the Economic Court of Vitebsk Region, as in the economic justice system of Belarus as a whole, the development of information technology systems is in line with global trends, and today the use of the "Videoconferencing" system within the judicial system is already an established practice. From January to September 2012, the Economic Court of Vitebsk Region held 162 hearings in videoconferencing format, including 7 hearings in administrative proceedings, 137 hearings in claim proceedings, and 18 cases were considered in the appellate instance. -0-

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