Multi-track Court procedure

[Winfred]

I am involved in a case in the County Court in which I am joined as one of the litigants in person as Claimant. It is a complex matter, involving very many documents. A paper bundle will be produced in the normal way. However, it will inevitably be a complex affair referring to a lot of documentation, however well it is indexed.

For the purposes of preparing the claim, we have been using our own self-generated website to share documents between ourselves and also the Defendants. We use a secure website which is also individually password protected. This website will effectively be printed to form the Court paper bundle, complying with the Court rules of course in the normal way.

However, in an ideal world, we would also like to be able to refer to the website in Court to navigate around all the documentation. It would be far easier and quicker, as everything is automatically indexed and linked, and it would essentially be a digital representation of the paper bundle itself. It would also mean that the judge would not have to lug many folders of paper around with him, especially if the judgment is reserved and he works from home.

The question is simply this. In the modern Court system, are judges and the parties able to access the internet from the Courtroom usually (subject to authorisation) ? I am looking for an answer in principal, because obviously it would depend on the particular Court's infrastructure. Assuming the answer is in the affirmative, the next question is whether District Judges are likely to be willing to use what would be effectively an "On-Line" bundle, duplicating the paper bundle ? I fully understand that it would be up to the individual judge as to whether to allow it anyway. While it is appreciated that a paper bundle would no doubt still be needed, have the Courts adopted digital evidence yet ? It would save a lot of Court time thumbing through countless folders. It would be even nicer if we could ditch the paper bundle altogether, but I have no doubt there is no chance of that !

In the event that the answer is negative, what other electronic media will a Judge these days be willing to use, if any ? The website could be copied onto a USB memory stick on a laptop - it consists of a series of indexes and sub-indexes referencing a lot of PDF files, and would work off-line exactly the same way as on-line. There is also no reason why it should not be burnt onto a DVD, if that is not too old fashioned !

I have no idea how up to date the Courts are, or if they are still only using quill and pen ! Any experience would be most welcome.

Thanks.

[islandgirl]

In the criminal courts we use ipads on the bench and do video links to prisons etc. No idea about other courts but I have to say I doiubt that evidence would be accepted in that format in court but I may well be wrong! Off to sharpen my quill...

[Winfred]

Thanks. I called the Court office after I posted here, and they advised me that they do have internet access in Court but it is up to the judge whether he wants to use it. If the judge does permit it, there will be no issue as to whether it is acceptable because there will be a paper bundle in Court also for the judge - the other side will not agree to a paperless bundle. The Court office gave me the telephone number of the Diary Manager with whom I would have to arrange it, but as the hearing date has not yet been fixed, I do not know which judge will hear it yet.

Presenting the case as litigants in person would be much easier if all that we had to do was to ask the judge to click on an exhibit from an index. So I would be interested to hear from anyone who has had experience of this.

Thanks.

[islandgirl]

in my experience the potential for IT difficulties is huge. I would certainly have paper as a back up! I do not know if judges use ipads in court but Magistrates do and we have information given to us using them (particulars of a case, previous convictions, interviews etc)

[Winfred]

Thanks again. That is at least encouraging. As a backup, I can have a USB stick with a copy of the HTML code on it which can be used instead of the internet.

In view of what has been said already, I think it is worth finishing the website properly - it is three quarters done already.

[islandgirl]

I suppose it will be up to the judge on the day - hence the need for paper!