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A brave new digital world?

24 June 2022 / Stephen Shaw
Issue: 7984 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Constitutional law , Costs
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The Master of the Rolls is pursuing an ambitious transformation of civil justice as we know it—and he deserves all the support he can get, says Stephen Shaw

In a series of addresses this year, the Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, has been not so much thinking outside the box, but ripping up the concept of boxes altogether. In speeches at the Society of Computers and Law in March, the London International Disputes Week in May, and most recently in the Roebuck Lecture at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators on 8 June, his message has been clear. He means to spearhead the biggest shake-up of the administration of civil justice in England and Wales since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules nearly 35 years ago. Indeed, by comparison, his reforms (which are already being implemented) will change the whole nature of civil litigation.

His central theme is that what he calls the ‘analogue’ approach to litigation, must be abandoned, in favour of ‘digitalised’ justice. He argues

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NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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