Law, Technology and Open Justice Flashcards
Lecture 9
Why is this aspect important?
- Will be part of lawyers’ job
- Democratises access
- Enhances productivity and accuracy
- Helps efficiency
- Simplifies way law firms work
- Mechanisms for coordinating and controlling law firms’ operations
Provide some drivers for the online court (Susan Acland-Hood)
- System more just, proportionate and accessible
- Failure to modernise (i.e., waste other people’s time, over-complicate, taking too long over simple things)
- Need modern systems join up courts, police, prosecutors to end paper mountain
What is the overall vision of technology and law?
- Justice system must be regarded as just
- Accessible
- Procedures + remedies should be intelligible + available to non-lawyers and people with disabilities
Provide some points on what courtrooms may be like in the future.
- Online, virtual hearings
- Cases start online
- Some completely entirely online (less serious cases like damage and debt claims)
- More conciliatory approach
- Problem: disregards older people? What about people without internet access? Mitigating factors not in consideration?
What is the report’s overall conclusion on law and technology?
- Technology offers a chance for radical change in the legal system
- System must respond rapidly to evolve within a system
Provide some concerns on online courts (Transform Justice).
- Significantly increases number of unrepresented defendants, to further discriminate vulnerable defendants
- Inhibit relationship between defence lawyers and their clients (make justice less open)
Why are some people worried about AI?
- Constantly evolving, but generally involves machines using statistics (can perform repetitive tasks without need for constant human guidance)
- Machine decision-making (what about bias, ethics, surrounding circumstances?)
Provide some of Addleshaw Goddard’s considerations regarding AI?
- Use of AI is still in early days (may not be reflected in pricing immediately)
- Balance between speed and accuracy
- “Human in the loop” and validation still required
- In-house teams will have to access budget from across the rest of a business
Provide the general principles of open justice.
- Hearings should be held in public in a courtroom accessible to media {Storer v British Gas case}
- Media and public entitled to attend all inquest hearing and report on anything said
Overall what does The Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020 say?
- Cameras allowed in the court room
- Sentencing remarks broadcast (by judge only) to increase transparency and accessibility
What does Ex-Justice Minister, Mike Freer say about courts being recorded?
“It has allowed the public to see justice being done in their courts and to understand the complex decisions judges make, building confidence in the justice system.”
What can be shown in recorded trials?
- Judge filmed during sentencing remarks
- Example: Mr Justice Bennathan passing sentence in Kyle Clifford case
- CANNOT be shown: victims, witnesses, jurors, defendants (due to privacy and Human Rights concerns)
What are some of the dangers of recorded trials?
- Entire trial recorded in Depp v Heard: considerably amount of misunderstanding by social media and scrutiny made
- OJ Simpson published book admitting to murder but not retried (effect on legal system?)
Why does Ex LC Dominic Raab claim that open justice is necessary?
- “will improve transparency and reinforce confidence in the justice system.”
- “Public will … see justice handed down, helping them understand better the complex decisions judges make.”
