The Principles of Publicity and Orality in Remote Hearings in Nordic Civil Procedure

PhD roundtable seminar with Sigmar Aron Ómarsson.

Abstract

The project focuses on how the use of remote hearings in civil proceedings affects the fundamental procedural principles of publicity, i.e. the right to a public hearing, and orality in Nordic civil procedure. Applying a comparative method, the project will analyse and compare the current legal frameworks of remote hearings in civil procedure in four of the Nordic countries; Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It will also identify and compare underlying motivations and concerns in relation to statutory amendments and other legal developments in this area in the respective countries. 

The project will go on to identify and analyse how underlying legal arguments and considerations for the principles of publicity and orality in civil procedure, drawn from the national legislation and constitutional provisions in the respective countries as well as Art. 6 of ECHR, apply to hearings that are conducted remotely, as opposed to traditional physical, oral hearings, within the current legal frameworks. Thus, identifying how the use of remote hearings in the Nordic countries may challenge or strengthen the principles of publicity and orality in civil proceedings, and whether it might be necessary to rethink these principles to some extent, in light of the digital development of civil procedure.

Short biography

Sigmar graduated from the University of Iceland with a mag.jur degree in 2020 and has since worked as an attorney in Reykjavík and as director of the administrative tribunal Óbyggðanefnd in Iceland. Sigmar started as a PhD student in a joint programme at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Iceland in February 2026.