The Online Court Debate
I have been under some attack in the comment section of the online version of the Law Society Gazette. By all means read the exchanges in full, especially to those to whom I have responded, and no doubt it will have advanced since I made this post, but this second post by myself sums up my views. "Paul (Bennett), you say "online works only within limited parameters. " Doesn't everything in the law? Currently the most limiting of all parameters, so far as access by the publ
The Future of the Courts
On the 14th October 2015, Westminster Legal Policy Forum held a seminar on the future of the courts, the second part to which focused on access to justice and the role of technology. Below are some short notes of the proceedings. I have not included all speakers but just some of the comments that I found of particular interest and relevance to the role of technology in a modernised justice system. Professor Richard Susskind, IT Advisor to the Lord Chief Justice and Chair of
Justice Minister Looks to ODR to Help Rescue the British Civil Court System
Michael Gove, who in May 2015 was given the duel role within the UK justice system and government of Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, used his first formal speech, at the Legatum Institute in London, to criticise our "creaking and outdated" justice system which has, through the barriers of cost and excessive formality, become inaccessible to a large section of society and set out his proposals for the future. He noted that :- " it astonishes businesses an
Online Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice
Looking forward to giving a presentation to a Council of Europe hearing in Madrid on the 30th October as to the role of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) in improving access to justice. Not to be confused with the European Union, the Council of Europe was the body set up by the governments of Europe in the aftermath of World War II to put something in place to learn the lessons from the spread of fascism and to help secure a more democratic foundation for the Europe of the fu
Law Inaction
No this is not a photo of an updated Tardis nor a new form of street toilet cubicle. This is the contraption I had to enter into in order to record an interview with Joshua Rozenberg for BBC Radio4's "Law In Action" series. I couldnt find the time to travel to London to be in the studio so I went to what some media people complain of as the broadcasting equivalent of Siberia - Salford Media City. I, and mediator Penelope Overton, discussed a case of a lady who had work done t
"The Future of Justice" - University of Leicester IT Law Society
Honoured to be invited to present the keynote speech at the 'Future of Justice' conference held by the Information Technology Law Society at the University of Leicester on the 22nd October 2014. The emphasis , of course, was on Online Dispute Resolution. A great credit to the organisers that they were able to attract Colin Rule, COO and Founder of the leading ODR company, Modria (www.modria.com) and the original Head of ODR at eBay and PayPal, the man who designed and ran t
UK Moves towards Online Dispute Resolution
Graham Ross has been appointed a member of a new 12 strong ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) Advisory Group set up by the Civil Justice Council (a public body established under the Civil Procedure Act 1997 with responsibility for overseeing and co-ordinating the modernisation of the civil justice system of England and Wales) “to analyse the costs and benefits of ODR as an alternative means of resolving disputes.” The Advisory Group met for the first time on the 23rd April in th
