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03 September 2009 / David Oldham
Issue: 7383 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession
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Paperless cases

David Oldham observes how IT is increasingly used in court

In a previous article (NLJ 1 May 2009), I commented on the failure of government to provide funding for the sort of technological assistance that Lord Woolf envisaged 10 years ago for courts and judges. In this article, I consider what other sorts of IT are available which might help judges and lawyers to conduct litigation more efficiently.

I admit immediately that I am not a “techie”, and so I do not pretend to understand the technical aspects of a lot of IT. What interests me is how user-friendly it is, how easily it could be introduced, and whether realistically it might be affordable. Will it help me in my day-to-day work, and will it make the system more efficient, and reduce delay and cost?
 

In many ways, the county courts in England and Wales still operate much as they did 100 years ago. The system remains paper-based, with paper files for every case. In my previous article, I mentioned that work on an

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft strengthens Scottish real estate capabilitywith partner appointment

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Brendan Ryan as partner in Public Law Projects team

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers welcomes five new barristers

NEWS
A time-restricted bank tax, a ‘roadmap to fiscal devolution’, extension to parental leave, entrepreneur’s relief and a giveaway on energy bills for households are the headlines in Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey’s 2026 Autumn Budget
A Court of Appeal judge has lamented the ‘very concerning’ state of the law on employee inventor compensation after a chemist’s case took five-and-a-half years to reach court, eventually being listed for a 37-day trial next year
The Law Society has emphasised that responsibility remains human, in a practice note on artificial intelligence (AI)
Respect orders, which enable police, councils, housing associations, transport networks and other authorities to take enforcement action against anti-social behaviour, have come into force across England and Wales
The Land Registry has launched two consultations aimed at making its information more publicly accessible, ‘Restructuring HM Land Registry fees’, and ‘Future of access to HM Land Registry information’
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