A Colombian court hosted its first legal trial in the metaverse in February and now hopes to experiment again with virtual reality. During the two and a half hours hearing streamed on YouTube, participants in a traffic dispute appeared as avatars in a virtual courtroom, with Magistrate Maria Quinones’ avatar dressed in black legal robes.
Colombia is one of the first countries globally to conduct real legal proceedings in the metaverse. In an interview, Magistrate Quinones said, "It felt more real than a video call,” and described the metaverse experience as "amazing." On Zoom, she noted, "Many people turn off their cameras, you have no idea what they're doing,"
The case - brought by a regional transport union against the police – will now proceed partly in the metaverse, potentially including the verdict, Quinones said. She did not rule out metaverse hearings elsewhere. "This is an academic experiment to show that there it's possible... but where everyone consents to it, (my court) can continue to do things in the metaverse," she added.
The Metaverse still has a ways to go
While the Colombian metaverse trial garnered more than 70k viewers in the live stream, Magistrate Quinones observed that the experiment had not been popular, citing a 70% disapproval among viewers.
Juan David Gutierrez, a public policy professor at Colombia's University of Rosario, said the use of the metaverse in legal proceedings has a long way to go. "You need hardware to do this that very few people have. And that prompts questions about accessibility to justice and equality," he said in an interview.
Magistrate Quinones, however, remains an avid advocate of metaverse trials, especially in cases of abuse where accusers get to face their abusers and share a space without having to physically see each other.
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