In a report published this week, Online court services: delivering a more efficient digital justice system, the Law Society highlighted technical issues across the damages claims, public family law and probate online portals.
Three in five solicitors responding to a survey said the portals had caused delays in court proceedings and one third reported increased costs arising as a result had been passed on to clients. Delays were experienced by three-quarters of probate, two-thirds of family public law and 46% of damages claim portal users.
More than half the probate users surveyed said the online process is taking longer than the paper-based system.
One probate practitioner said: ‘We have gone from a system that cost £45 and took two weeks to a system that costs £273 and takes 16 weeks! How is this progress?’
Half the damages claims users said the delays were affecting their clients. Some 70% of the family public law portal users reported technical errors and frequent breakdowns, and the vast majority (80%) reported lack of timeliness and technical support.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said the court reform programme had enjoyed many successes, such as a high uptake of digital probate applications and more than 70% of all courtrooms being able to allow parties to join remotely.
However, the delays were ‘having a real impact on clients, especially as these portals are often used at an already challenging and difficult time.
‘The increased delays and associated uncertainty these portals have created are causing additional stress.’
The Law Society made several recommendations, including ‘a user-led design and development process involving the public, legal professionals and the advice sector’; and software to improve communication between online court systems and solicitors’ case management systems.
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