Digitalization and Covid-19: Glоbal Trend of the Civil Procedure Development

Abstract

The widespread development of digital technologies, their relationship with the globalization of the modern world are beyond doubt. The sphere of the civil process is not an exception in this regard. The process of its digitalization should be perceived precisely in the context of globalization and the pandemic that covered the world gave us a demonstration of new attributes of this process. That is why, despite the serious scientific attention to the problems of cross-border jurisdictional interaction and the transformation of the civil process in the conditions of coronavirus restrictions, an exhaustive analysis of these phenomena has not yet been conducted in relation to the digitalization of the civil process. On the basis of the specifics of the subject, the following methods were used in its study: a) the system method, b) the method of comparative law. In the framework of this study, based on the analysis of the achieved level of practical development and doctrinal understanding of digital technologies in the Russian and foreign civil process, an attempt is made to theoretical and practical study of the problems of cross-border interaction of civil jurisdictional systems in the context their widespread digitalization and the coronavirus pandemic. The study has led to the following conclusions: a) the Covid-19 pandemic not only marked, but also accelerated the process of digitalization of the civil process now, both nationally and globally. At the same time, the increasing usage of digital technologies in the civil procedure has led to the new issues that represent structural shifts occurring in the ‘classical’ civil process under the influence of a new technological basis. b) Digitalization is a global civil procedure development trend, and the Covid-19 pandemic only emphasized it has lack of alternatives. In the context of the dematerialization of civil circulation, the blurring of state borders, and competition of national law enforcement systems, the digitalization of the civil process perhaps is the only possible way to adapt the traditional civil process to the needs of the modern world and preserve its former significance.