Solicitors have raised concerns about the viability of an online court, as proposed in the Briggs Review interim report published last week.
Lord Justice Briggs has recommended setting up an online court for claims up to £25,000, which litigants could access without lawyers. Writing in this week’s NLJ, however, David Greene, NLJ consultant editor and senior partner at Edwin Coe solicitors, says: “It is difficult for those of us with long experience of IT projects in the courts to be optimistic on IT but we hope Briggs’s optimism is well placed. The online court will be very reliant on IT development…the history of IT and the courts is not an entirely happy one with the recent example of the abandonment of the initial IT project at the Rolls Building.”
Law Society president Jonathan Smithers expressed concern that the proposed court might prevent people accessing legal advice for cases up to £25,000 in value. He warned that people would still need legal advice on their claim, as well as assistance with navigating through the process.
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