This slideshow accompanied a paper that I delivered at the Courts Technology Conference in Salt Lake City Utah in September 2017

1. The Online Court
Technology to Remodel Process
Dr David Harvey
New Zealand Centre for ICT Law

2. Rationale and Structure
How IT Remodels Process
Advantages and Critiques
The Technology.

3. Rationale and
Structure

4. Major Premise
• It is now technically possible to
free the courts from the
constraints of storing,
transmitting and communicating
information on paper.
• Digital by design and default
• Structure of civil courts is
premised upon paper files

5. Place Doesn’t
Matter
• Freedom from the tyranny of
paper gives rise to a wholly new
range of choices about the
geographical location of all
aspects of the civil justice
system. There will be no need
for hearing centres to be in the
same buildings as the back
offices which issue, handle and
manage cases.

6. Online Courts Proposals
• Lord Justice Sir Michael Briggs
• Richard Susskind

7. How IT
Remodels
Process

8. Allows greater engagement
Problem identification
Conflict containment
Shift emphasis away from hearing
towards resolution
All done online with legal expert
systems and automated advice

9. Present Model

10. Drivers for
ODR
• Effective use of technology
• Economic reasons – low
value claims too costly and
too slow especially for
litigants in person
• Time and Distance
Considerations
• Ease of Use
• Reduced need for Lawyers

11. The Susskind Model

12. Evaluation
Facilitation
Hearing

13. On-line
Evaluation
Via Internet
Helps users classify and categorise
problem
Awareness of rights
Understand options and remedies

14. Online
Facilitation
Via Internet or
teleconference
Review papers and
statements
Try and resolve via
mediation or negotiation

15. Online
Hearing
Last resort
“hear” the matter on
basis of papers
“hearing” would be on-
line
Video or Teleconference

16. Advantages and Critiques

17. Imitative and Innovative
• Imitative
• Uses electronic processes to mirror
current paper based practices
• Innovative
• Disruptive but transformative use of
technology

18. Innovation and Justice
• Must maintain universal values of justice
• Fairness
• Participation
• Equality
• Truth
• Legitimacy
• Efficiency

19. Susskind
Innovations
• Changes the focus of the process
• Court hearing NOT the ultimate
destination but a last resort
• Conflict avoidance or resolution is
the focus
• Process is “online based”
• If judicial resolution is required it
is done online

20. Innovative
• Emphasis on Tiers 1 and 2
• Act as a filter
• Very few cases “go to Court”
• Cost savings – no need for court
buildings and associated costs
• Access to Justice – geography is
irrelevant
• No need for lawyers
• Integrated into Court process

21. Critiques

22. Five Areas
Fundamental Justice Issues
Procedural Issues
Technical Issues
Cultural Issues
Implementation Issues

23. Fundamental
Justice Issues

24. Legitimacy
Jurisdictional Ceiling
Open Justice
“Economy class” justice
Loss of majesty

25. Procedural
Issues

26. Existing procedural processes and
costs sanctions
Limitations of Text – the little boxes
approach

27. Technical Issues

28. Algorithms and transparency
Machine driven systems – decision
by machine
Security

29. Cultural Issues

30. The “day in court”
The Face to Face hearing
Video interaction
Digital Exclusion
Inhibitions and Disinhibitions

31. Implementation Issues

32. • A “step in the dark”
• Government IT projects?

33. The Technology

34. A user friendly
system
Aimed at self-
represented
litigants
A “demand side”
approach

35. Six Technology
Targets

36. Empower and
support participation
Streamline and
improve the
handling of cases
Promote access to
justice without
jeopardizing judicial
impartiality;
Mitigating
accessibility
challenges,
Meeting standards
of procedural
fairness
Scalability to manage
the expected growth
in legal self-
representation

37. What Does it Look Like?

38. Generally
• Online Solutions
• Use of Internet
Platforms for Access
and Service Delivery
• Back Office Functions
• Server based
• Cloud Based

39. Digital Court Management
Systems
The Digital Court Landscape
CaseLines Evidence and
Presentation Manager
Applicant
Portal Applications &
Fees
Filings &
Documents
Rostering
Outcomes
Management
Evidence
Manager
Courtroom
Presentation
Judge’s
Portal
CaseLines Data Store
Data Store
Focus on
documents
& media
Focus on
data, process
& workflow

40. Tele-
conference
platform
Digital Court Management
Systems
The OSC Landscape?
CaseLines Evidence and
Presentation Manager
Applicant
Portal
Applications
& Fees
Filings &
Documents
Rostering
Outcomes
Management
Evidence
Manager
Courtroom
Presentation
Judge’s
Portal
CaseLines Data Store
Data Store
Focus on
documents
& media
Focus on
data, process
& workflow
AI or Rules
Engine

41. Filing a Claim or
an Answer
• Digital by Default
• Web-based forms
• Attach digital documents, image or
video files
• Provide URLs to relevant websites
• Avoid file size restrictions

42. Compiling the
Casefile
• Backoffice – database
• Document management system
• Digital Court File (DCF)
• Caselines – Cloudbased document
management case bundle system
• Exhibits, audio, images, video
would be annexed to the DCF

43. Beyond PDF to the collaborative
court space
CaseLines notes can be shared with counsel and other
team members …..
…..CaseLines bundles are dynamic , no need to
reissue a pdf when the bundle changes
CaseLines can stream video evidence straight from the
bundle …..
…..CaseLines notes stay put even when new pages
are added to the bundle

44. Triage
• Technologically challenging
• AI or Legal Expert Systems (LES)
• Associated with existing datasets
of legalfactual material
• Big Data model

45. Possible Model
• Entire corpus of legal information in machine readable format
• Reduce dataset to information that is relevant and manageable
(TAR) – assisted review
• Deploy Tools that would measure returned results against the
facts or a particular case to predict a likely outcome
• Algorithms that could undertake the comparative and predictive
analysis, together with a form of probability analysis
• Outcome prediction utilising cognitive techniques

46. Tier 2 and 3
• Greater human interaction
• Mediation process using
technology
• Videoconferencing

47. The Hearing
• Limited issues isolated via Tiers 1
and 2
• Hearing on the Papers using the
DCF
• Option for a videoconferenced
hearing
• Courts (Remote Participation) Act
2010
• In rare cases a full “physical
presence” hearing

48. Taking it to the Next Stage
Legislative and Regulatory
Framework
Judicial will – the inherent power
to regulate process
All that is needed is the
technology