header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: Digital justice must mean inclusive justice

01 August 2025
Issue: 8127 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Profession , Equality , Legal services , Artificial intelligence
printer mail-detail
226810
Digital reform in the courts must prioritise inclusion over efficiency, write Professors Sue Prince (University of Exeter) and Liz Smart (Birmingham City University) in this week's NLJ. As HMCTS continues its £1.2bn modernisation programme, the authors warn that replacing paper with digital risks excluding vulnerable users unless reforms are user-centred

Their Civil Justice Council report, ‘Digital Disadvantage’, highlights inconsistent terminology and calls for a shift from deficit-based language to a unified focus on inclusion. They advocate for mapping user journeys, embedding public legal education, and creating a central hub for digital inclusion strategy.

The authors stress that even tech-savvy users may struggle with online systems during stressful legal proceedings. True access to justice, they argue, means designing systems that work for everyone—not just the digitally literate. Digital transformation must not come at the cost of fairness.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

Investment banking veteran appointed as chairman to drive global growth

NEWS
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
back-to-top-scroll