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Citizens Advice of England and Wales has given the most comprehensive picture of people’s need for legal assistance during the pandemic anywhere in the world in its ‘Life Through Lockdown’ report. It contains an invaluable snapshot of the time – ‘More than half of the people who came to us for help between September and … Continue reading Charting the Pandemic
This is the fourth assessment of an issue to be covered in a prospective analysis of current developments and likely trends in access to justice and technology. You are encouraged to comment by email or twitter. Technology has brought new prominence to – and new opportunities for – an old idea: legal empowerment. The Engine Room defined … Continue reading Legal Empowerment, Technology and Access to Justice
In the 2010s, before the pandemic struck, a capacity to provide legal services remotely was seen as somewhat exotic and heralding the arrival of new entity, the ‘virtual lawyer’. ‘”Virtual law firms” are redefining how legal practices operate and the services they offer,’ announced publishers Wolters Kluwer in a blog published in a pre-Covid January 2019. Most … Continue reading Remote working and access to justice
This is the third assessment of an issue to be covered in a prospective analysis of current developments and likely trends in access to justice and technology. The growth of remote courts and the digitalisation of court procedures are one of the main sources of change to the judicial and legal systems around the world during the … Continue reading Court digitalisation and Access to Justice: a path passing by Goldilocks, Fluouride and quantum physics
Can discretion be designed out of the legal system and automation encouraged? Would that be another possible ‘game changer’? Might law and its enforcement become more ‘self-executing’ – eliminating the need for expensive individualised assistance? If this could be done to any large extent, it would be of massive assistance to those affected. Their need for legal … Continue reading Designing out discretion: self-executing laws and the Holy Grail