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
Lord Chief Justice Argues For The Online Court
Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd , the Lord Chief Justice, gave a speech this week to the Justice Committee at the House of Commons in which he argued for primary legislation to enable the creation of an Online Court in which settlement assistance would be readily available as part of the process and litigants would not be at any disadvantage by not being represented by lawyers. His speech echoes the proposals made last year by myself and my colleagues in the ODR Advisory Group to the
ODR in Clinical Negligence
One example of how interest in ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) is beginning to mature is the growing interest in the application of ODR to specific categories of claims. For example, last month, I was asked to give a talk at a conference organised by Action Against Medical Accidents (AVMA - which originally stood for Action for Victims of Medical Accidents but no doubt was changed to remove the negative victim culture reference) on the role of ODR within clinical negligence c
Council of Europe Committee Urges Wider Use of ODR
Last week saw the publication of a Report to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
 of the Council of Europe on the question of whether ODR and the increasing use of technology and communications over the Internet for the resolution of disputes may conflict with the public's right to access to justice as enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council of Europe is the body responsible for enforcement of the ECHR through the European Co
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of State for Justice, used his first formal speech, at the Legatum Institute in London, to criticise our "creaking and outdated" justice system which has, through the barriers of cost and excessive formality, become inaccessible to a large section of society and set out his proposals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
