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(Online defencesfrom 9.12.02)

Use of IT in judicial proceedings

Dr. Dory Reiling Mag. Iur.

Dory Reiling

• 1986 - judge in NL

• 1993 – involved in IT for courts

• 1999 – IT program manager NL judiciary

• 2004 - 2007 World Bank judicial reform

• 2007- 2009 Doctorate in IT and Judicial Reform

Topics

• What IT?

• Coffee break

• IT: What for?

• What has IT changed?

Source: CEPEJ 2008

Europe: level of digital access

Communication with parties

• European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) survey:

• In 100% of courts:• Electronic communication 15/46

• Special web sites 14• Electronic web forms 11

E-access to courts

• Council of Europe (COE) survey• E-filing is possible in half the COE

member countries• Legislation in more than half• Requirements vary • Practice is low • Except in Austria

Source: CEPEJ 2008

Europe: levels of direct IT support

Direct support for judges and staff

• in 100% of courts: • text production 42/46 countries• jurisprudence databases 33 • email 33 • internet connections 33• electronic files 18

Source: CEPEJ 2008

E-procedures

• Half communicate electronically with parties and lawyers

• Everyone keeps and archives paper files

• Electronic files are mostly still experimental

• And so are electronic signatures

3. Oral e-hearings

• Some E-files• Almost no file in

hearing• Some projecting

documents• Some (?) documents

accessible in computer

• Some video recording

• More audio recording• Videoconferencing

– W+P+E 10– W+P 3, W 1, P 1

• Some courts have a/v equipment

Practical court work

• COE CCJE• Judges write, more and more on

computers• Court staff write,deliver,register• Tech: models, templates 17• Voice recognition: 7• Monitoring length: y 18 n 12• Data on each judge: 25 statistics mostly

Management systems

in 100% of courts

• Case registration systems 26/46

• Financial management 26

• Case and court management 20

Advantages and Disadvantages

• COE CCJE

• Advantages 27: – efficiency, speed, cost, – access to legal information, – service to citizens,

• Disadvantages 8 – cost, – data security,

Coffee break

Why Difficult?

• IT projects are always difficult

• Government organization - complexity

• Culture

• Lack of direction in judicial governance

• Lack of information policy and know-how

IT: What for?

• Most common complaints

• Delay

• (Lack of) Access

• Integrity/Corruption

• Internal processes, user interaction and integrity

The law - standards

• European Convention on Human Rights

Article 6Right to a fair trialeveryone is entitled to a fair and public

hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

IT is about information

• Information technology processes information

• How do courts use information?• Different types of information:

– Party information– Case information– Legal information

• Processing cases• Cases are not the same

Outcome unpredictable?- +-

+

1 title

2 notarial 3 settlement

4 judgment

Party relation

Cases are different

1 title

Outcome unpredictable?- +-

+

2 notarial

35 %

30 % 9 %

8 %

Party relation

Distribution across case load

4 judgment

3 settlement

Source: NL Judicial Council statistics

1 title

Outcome unpredictable?- +-

+

2 notarial

35 %

30 % 9 %

8 %

Party relation

4 judgment

3 settlement

Source: NL Judicial Council statistics

Interventions

1 title

Outcome unpredictable?- +-

+

2 notarialParty

relation

Technology for each group

4 judgment

3 settlementCase fi l ingWeb guidance Negotiation software

Case fi l ingElectronic f i lesKnowledge management

Case fi l ingAutomated case processingWeb guidance

Case fi l ingAutomated case processing

Issue # 1: Case Delay/Timeliness

• Procedural complexity

• Culture

• Early intervention

• Simplification

• Internal processes

• Communication with the user (digital access)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Albania

Belarus

Bosnia+

Herzegovin

a

Bulgaria

Croat ia

Macedon ia

Moldova

Nether

lands

Romania

Russian

Federa

t ion

Serbia

Turkey

Ukraine

Civil justice disposition time in days, 2004, 2008

Issue # 2: Access to justice

• Access to information

• Justiciable problems

• Problem specific information needs:– Information– Advice– Assistance

1 title

Outcome unpredictable?- +-

+

2 notarialParty

relation

Civil justice: party configurations and information needs

4 judgment

3 settlement

Repeat players vs. one-shotters

One-shotters vs. one-shotters Diverse

Diverse

Access to justice

Disintermediation

• One-sided: Web sites with information

• Interactive digital access– Downloadable forms– E-filing– Case management – Access to court systems– Human support – videoconferencing, chatting

Issue # 3: Integrity/Corruption

• Weak institutions

• Low participation

• Payments, patronage

• Opportunities for strengthening processes

• Transparency

• Risk: increasing insecurity

Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2008

0123456789

10

Albania

Belarus

Bosnia+

Herzegovin

a

Bulgaria

Croat ia

Macedonia

Moldova

Nether

lands

Romania

Russian

Federa

t ion

Serbia

Turkey

Ukrain

e

Corruption Perception Scores, 2001, 2008

Conclusions

• Office automation has increased accuracy• Statistics – time standards • Decisions more transparent with Internet • IT is about information• Cases are different• Access, timeliness and integrity are related

• Using IT can improve access to justice• Human help will always be necessary

Resources

• Dory Reiling

• dory@doryreiling.com

• www.doryreiling.com

• www.coe.int/cepej

• www.coe.int/ccje

• +31-6-20364309