Government unveils a vision of e-justice

The government this week outlined its long-term plans for IT in the civil justice system and announced plans to pilot on-line dispute resolution, court kiosks and video-conferencing.The Lord Chancellor's Department published a strategy paper - civil.justice.2000 - detailing several programmes which build on the recent launches of the Community Legal Service's 'Just Ask!' Web site.

It follows on from an earlier consultation paper - Resolving and Avoiding Disputes in the Information Age - published in 1998.

The programmes focus on educating citizens about their legal rights, making legal solutions more available, and enforcement.The court kiosks - being piloted in Wolverhampton - will give touch-screen technology and dial-up video links to local citizens advice bureaux, and access to video and audio presentations.

Video-conferencing pilots are under way in the EastRiding of Yorkshire, and a new pilot is shortly to be launched in Preston to trial methods of on-line dispute resolution.

These will aim to linkparties to judges on-line in interlocutory and preliminary proceedings.Launching the strategy, the minister for IT in the Lord Chancellor's Department, David Lock, said it aimed to increase 'automation and innovation'.

At present, he said, 'the legal system is based too heavily on litigation and the courts'.'What is needed is an integrated civil justice system where the courts are a forum of last resort, and increased awareness of legal rights and responsibilities is encouraged as part of lifelong learning,' he said.Speaking at the launch, Professor Richard Susskind, IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice, said many of the ideas in the strategy paper had the potential to be disruptive and were therefore 'exciting'.He said the aim was to provide proactive solutions to legal problems rather than reactive.

'We want to erect a fence at the top of the cliff rather than park an ambulance at the bottom,' he said.But Mr Susskind suggested the strategy held latent warnings for solicitors.

'This is a wake-up call for the profession as a whole,' he said.

'Many lawyers are not embracing the IT revolution and really have to take a long, hard look at what they are doing.'

Jeremy Fleming