The District Court of Limburg, together with the municipality of Venray, will start a Video Court pilot on November 1, 2019. In this pilot, custody cases will be heard via a video link - on a voluntary basis - between the court and the town hall in Venray. It concerns only cases with parties involved from the municipality of Venray. In this way the judiciary works on accessibility for the citizen and comes to the citizen, so to speak. The pilot will last one year.
Those involved in custody cases who live in the North Limburg region now have to travel to Roermond to attend a hearing. This while they are in a difficult financial position. Traveling to Roermond is relatively expensive for this group of people. Therefore, they sometimes fail to attend. To facilitate 'access to justice' for these citizens, the Limburg District Court, together with the municipality of Venray, will conduct a one-year Video Court Case Pilot.
Starting November 1, 2019, those involved in a custody case will be invited by the court to the oral hearing via video. If those involved prefer to attend the hearing of their case in court, they can notify. Participation via video is thus voluntary. The first video hearing is expected to take place in December.
The municipality of Venray is not a litigant in custody cases. During the pilot, the municipality merely facilitates and supports the court. This involves the municipality providing a room in the town hall with video equipment. For its part, the municipality considers it important to offer this group of residents the possibility of video court proceedings.
An evaluation will be conducted every three months and a final evaluation will take place after one year. In the event of a successful pilot, consideration will be given to expanding this form of handling to other municipalities or other case types.
