header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

NLJ this week: Digital justice must mean inclusive justice

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
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.

Issue: 8127 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Profession , Equality , Legal services , Artificial intelligence
printer mail-details
RELATED ARTICLES
 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Big tech for small firms
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
NLJ this week: Presumption of capacity reaffirmed
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
NLJ this week: Justice delayed, justice denied
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
NLJ this week: The road ahead for employment rights
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: SLAPPed shut?
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll