Too much, too soon

Lord Justice Briggs’ recent interim report, Civil Courts Structure Review, covers a number of areas. The proposal which has received the most attention is the so-called “online court” (OC), fairly acknowledged by Lord Justice Briggs as “the single most radical and important structural change” with which his interim report is concerned. There are few who would dispute that the court system, and the experience of many a litigant and judge, could be substantially improved by the use of digital tools and modern information technology (IT). And it is good news indeed that at least for IT the government has committed necessary funds for investment in our justice system. But we need to be careful how and when, and to what extent, we make use of modern technology, and indeed how much faith we place in it. Many of the major government IT projects have a history of costly failure either in conception or implementation and those that have completed have often been