Peter Black's Freedom to Differ

NSW courtrooms move online

Very exciting news on the future of e-courts in New South Wales, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald:

COURT cases will be conducted live on the internet in NSW from next week.

JusticeLink, a $48 million cutting-edge computer system, will be introduced into the District Court, allowing lawyers, prosecutors, judges and magistrates to conduct procedural hearings online.

Cutting out court appearances for preliminary procedural arguments and directions would make the system more efficient, saving time and money, Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said. While trials and committal hearings would continue to be held in courtrooms, simple procedural matters to be decided online would cut the need for parties to attend court.

"Traditionally, quite a few court appearances could be required to decide procedural matters before the hearing or trial could begin," Mr Hatzistergos. "JusticeLink will allow prosecutors and defence lawyers to log into a bulletin board, where they will type their arguments.

Read more here.

Digital evidence: issues for lawyers and what's over the horizon

Stephen Mason, a Barrister and Associate Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies in London, is presenting a free public lecture entitled "Digital Evidence: Issues for Lawyers and What's Over the Horizon", at QUT on Tueday 8 August at 6pm.

E-courts

There was an article in yesterday's IT Australian on the adoption of e-court technology, "Verdict in on future of hi-tech courts".  The article discusses the National Court of the Future at the University of Canberra, but fails mention the <e.law> QUT Moot Court.

The technology that these e-courts utilise is impressive and there is no doubt they have the potential to streamline court proceeings.  However, there are three reasons limiting their adoption:

1. Cost: The cost of installing and maintaining e-courts are prohibitive at the moment.
2. Security: There remain security concerns about conducting litigation electronically.  These concerns should be able to allayed over time.
3. IT skills of the legal profession: Most judges and senior barristers are not sufficiently IT literate to take advantage of the technology.