Download - Use of IT in judicial proceedings
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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
• www.doryreiling.com
• www.coe.int/cepej
• www.coe.int/ccje
• +31-6-20364309