The University of Sydney Law School

The Digital Criminal Justice Project: Vulnerability and the Digital Subject

The impact of digital technology on the criminal justice system

Digital technologies are rapidly transforming the criminal justice system, with audio-visual links and 3rd party video communication platforms replacing physical presence in courtrooms and direct human communication. But are these technologies delivering fair criminal justice? What are the implications for vulnerable witnesses, victims and defendants when they are remote from the courtroom?

About the project

Led by Dr Carolyn McKay, this Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) project is evaluating the impact of videoconferencing technologies on fair, accessible and inclusive justice for vulnerable users of criminal courts.

The project focuses on the use of remote communication technologies, like videoconferencing, by vulnerable prosecution witnesses (including complainants or victims) as well as by vulnerable defendants and offenders when they need to participate in criminal court proceedings or engage in conferencing with lawyers.

The project seeks to examine digitalised criminal justice and the interrelationship with vulnerability to ask: in what ways does videoconferencing assist or disadvantage vulnerable individuals in the criminal justice system? In essence, the project is examining the impact of digitalisation processes on fair, accessible and inclusive criminal justice for all vulnerable individuals.

The evaluation is based on a comprehensive national study and original empirical research data from 175 fieldwork interviews and surveys with Australian judges, magistrates, defence lawyers, prosecutors and affiliated criminal justice professionals such as witness intermediaries and witness assistance officers, as well as case law and legislative analysis.

The project has both applied and theoretical outputs:

  • Firstly, the project is examining how vulnerability is understood and operationalised in the digital criminal justice system with the aim of developing recommendations and strategies to better protect the vulnerable under digital justice; and
  • Secondly, using a digital criminological framework and drawing on vulnerability theory, the project is further developing the concept of ‘digital vulnerability’, an emergent concept that is gaining international focus in both civil and criminal justice.

Carolyn is currently drafting an open access book manuscript 'Digital Vulnerability in Criminal Justice: Vulnerable people and communication technologies' for Palgrave Pivot, 2025.

Discover our research

Explore our research themes, projects and partnership opportunities

Publications

  • McKay, C. forthcoming 2025. Contracted to Palgrave Pivot for Digital Vulnerability in Criminal Justice: Vulnerable people and communication technologies.
  • McKay, C., Macintosh, K., 2024. ‘Remote criminal justice and vulnerable individuals: blunting emotion and empathy?’ Tilburg Law Review. Special Issue.
  • McKay, C. 2024. Input for report to the General Assembly on human rights in the administration of justice: Application of digital technologies in the administration of justice, submission to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Switzerland.
  • McKay, C., Macintosh, K. 2024. ‘Digital Vulnerability: People-in-prison, videoconferencing and the digital criminal justice system.’ Journal of Criminology. 57(3), 313-333. https://doi.org/10.1177/26338076231217794
  • McKay, C., 2024. ‘Virtual criminal courts and remote advocacy’, Bar News Special Issue on Technologies, Bar News: The Journal of the NSW Bar Association.
  • McKay, C., Macintosh, K. 2023. ‘Digital Criminal Courts: The Place or Space of (Post-)pandemic Justice.’ In Russell Smith, Rick Sarre, Lennon Chang, Laurie Lau (Eds.), Crime in the Post-pandemic Digital Age, Palgrave.
  • McKay, C., Macintosh, K. 2023. ‘Accessing Digitalised Criminal Justice from Prison: Communication, Effective Participation and Digital Vulnerability.’ Newcastle Law Review.
  • McKay, C. 2022. ‘Remote access technologies, clinical evaluations of people-in-prison and digital vulnerability.’ Recht der Werkelijkheid, (Journal of Empirical Research on Law in Action) 43(2), 68-88.
  • McKay, C., Blake, R. 2022. ‘Cross-examination and remote access technologies: a changing calculus?’ Bar News: The Journal of the NSW Bar Association, Autumn, 9-10.
  • McKay, C. 2022. ‘Digital Justice and Video Links: Connecting and Conflating Courtroom and Carceral Space.’ In Kirsty Duncanson and Emma Henderson (Eds.), Courthouse Architecture, Design and Social Justice, (pp. 191-121). Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Lulham, R., Bradley, K., Wan, K., McKay, C. 2022. Research and Evaluation Strategy for the Transformation of Prisoner Rehabilitation through Digital Technology, (pp. 1 - 84). Sydney, Australia: Corrective Services NSW.
  • McKay, C. 2022. ‘The carceral automaton: digital prisons and technologies of detention.’ International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 10(4), 100-119.
  • McKay, C. 2021. ‘Digital Technologies, Witnesses and Cross-examination’, Report prepared for the Bar Association of New South Wales for submission to the Federal Court of Australia.
  • McKay, C. 2020. ‘Glitching justice: Audio visual links and the sonic world of technologised courts.’ Law Text Culture, 24, 364-404.
  • McKay, C. 2020. ‘Predicting risk in criminal procedure: actuarial tools, algorithms, AI and judicial decision-making.’ Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 32(1), 22-39.
  • McKay, C. and Lee, M. 2020. ‘Body Worn Images: Point of View and the New Aesthetics of Policing.’ Crime, Media, Culture. 16(3), 431-450.
  • McKay, C. 2019. Artificial Intelligence: Australia’s Ethics Framework. Submission to Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.
  • Kashyap, K., Lulham, R., Klippan, L., Munro, T., Bradley, K., Fahy, J., Tomkin, D., Rowden, E., McKay, C. 2018. Court- Custody Audio Visual Links: Designing for equitable justice experience in the use of court custody video conferencing, (pp.1 - 64). Sydney, NSW, Australia: University of Technology Sydney.
  • McKay, C. 2018. The Pixelated Prisoner: Prison Video Links, Court 'Appearance' and the Justice Matrix. Oxon: Routledge.
  • McKay, C. 2018. Submission to the New South Wales Inquiry into Parklea Correctional Centre and Other Operational Issues; and Responses to Questions on Notice.
  • McKay, C. 2018. ‘Digital Access to Justice from Prison: Is There a Right to Technology?’, Criminal Law Journal, vol. 42, 303-321.
  • McKay, C. 2018. ‘Video Links from Prison: Court "Appearance" within Carceral Space.’ Law, Culture and the Humanities, 14(2), 242-262
  • McKay, C. 2017. Submission to the Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project - Prisoners and Detainees: Technology-based services. .
  • McKay, C. 2017. ‘Model Prison.’ The Annual Review of Interdisciplinary Justice Research Volume 6, ‘Placing Justice’: 236-239.
  • McKay, C. 2017. ‘Face-to-interface Communication: Accessing Justice by Video Link from Prison.’ In Asher Flynn and Jackie Hodgson (Eds.), Access to Justice and Legal Aid: Comparative Perspectives on Unmet Legal Need, (pp. 103-121). Oxford: Hart Publishing.
  • McKay, C. 2016. ‘Pixels, screens and prison video links: changing how lawyers deal with clients.’ Law Society Journal, December, 24-25.
  • McKay, C. 2016. ‘Video Links from Prison: Permeability and the Carceral World.’ International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 5(1), 21-37.
  • McKay, C. 2016. Audio Visual Links from Prison: Prisoners’ Experiences of Video Technologies for Accessing Justice. University of Sydney. https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/15764