Digital justice must be accessible

The report, ‘Digital Justice: HMCTS data strategy and delivering access to justice’, was drawn up by TLEF research director Dr Natalie Byrom, following a three-month secondment at HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), during which she interviewed senior judges, government staff, academic researchers, and data and privacy specialists.

Byrom said: ‘The move to online courts is an incredible opportunity to create a justice system that works well for everyone, whether they are an individual in crisis who has never been to court before, or a large organisation which regularly brings claims.

‘We need to ensure that digital processes are designed and monitored in line with recognised access to justice principles. We also need to be able to measure how different groups fare under the online processes, compared with paper-based, or face-to-face systems.’

Under the court reform programme, entire areas of law such as divorce, civil money claims, certain types of social security and child support tribunal cases will be dealt with online, with physical hearings reserved only for cases that cannot otherwise be resolved.

One key TLEF recommendation is that the government monitor access to justice by collecting data about court users through optional questions about characteristics such as age, gender, whether English is spoken as a first language, whether they are represented by a lawyer and mental or physical disability. This data capture must be subject to strict, clear and ethical controls in order to protect people’s privacy. TLEF further recommends that HMCTS dedicate resources to reviewing national and international best practice, existing legal frameworks and testing the acceptability of different models with stakeholders and the public.