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Better case management priority for courts – Denning

The Courts Service chief executive has told trainee solicitors that one of her main objectives is to improve the courts’ case-management system.

Angela Denning was speaking to Law Society course executive Paul Breslin on the future for technology and the courts at the Blackhall Place Future of Legal Practice Summit (10 January).

A technology strategy published late last year outlined the Courts Service’s plans to expand its digital court-management system.

Denning told the event at the Law Society that court users had told the service that they did not want “photocopying and paper”, describing this as “a burden” on the legal profession.

The Courts Service chief spoke about the “the amount of paper that goes down the quays for Supreme Court cases every day”, adding that “half of those boxes are never opened, because the judge doesn't want or need the information”.

Societal changes

Denning told her audience that the job of her management team was to “think about the future” and modernise the service.

She referred the challenges posed by changes in society, citing figures showing that 22% of people reported having a disability, and that 750,000 did not speak English as a first language.

Denning told trainees that the service wanted to make its website more accessible and aimed to reduce its reading age from the current 22 to 12.

In particular, she said, the body had revamped its family-law pages, though she stressed the need to strike a balance between providing procedural and legal advice.

“If you can’t find out what the courts can do for you, how can you find out if there’s a solution to your problem in the courts?” Denning told the trainees.

23,000 video links

She spoke about the advances made in recent years, adding that COVID had taken away “a lot of the fear” of technology among some staff and some of the judiciary.

Denning said that there were now 23,000 video links between courts and prisons each year, adding that many victims of crime also found the technology “hugely beneficial”.

The Courts Service chief said that the organisation was building towards dedicated case-management portals for its staff, solicitors, and the judiciary. 

Denning added that an enhanced system would also improve the Legal Diary.

Access to justice

Denning warned, however, that the service had to make sure that it did not create barriers to access to justice, citing areas of the country where broadband or phone coverage was weak.

She also said that the service was working with groups such as Age Action and the National Adult Literacy Agency to ensure that it considered the needs of older and more vulnerable groups.

The discussion also heard about a plan for Supreme Court decisions to be broadcast live, with delayed coverage of hearings also available to download.