Video in the Courtroom: The Case of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Poster Session: Philosophy, Theory and Critique Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

The profusion of visual technologies and platforms is changing the courtroom, an environment whose authority has long rested on the power of words. This unfolding visual turn is compelling courts to adapt practices and doctrines that can take into account new modes of producing visual evidence, illuminating the transforming legal status of visual imagery. This paper tackles this development through the case of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, showing how the advent of video in courts is blurring the boundaries between the law and the wider visual culture. In the process, the paper argues that institutions and professions, such as the law, need to take visual forms of knowledge production seriously.

Author

• Sandra Ristovska, University of Colorado Boulder