IT Support of the Judiciary Australia, Singapore, Venezuela, Norway, The Netherlands and Italy

Information Technology (IT) has found its way into legal practice and as part of that into the judiciary. The present publication provides an impression of the developments in three continents, or, better, a country in each of these continents: Australia (Australia), Singapore (Asia), and Venezuela (South America). In addition, reports by Norway, the Netherlands and Italy are provided. These countries can be qualified as the best equipped and organized in IT for the judiciary in Europe.Amongst the issues addressed are electronic filing systems, decision support systems, the employment of knowledge management, and on-line services, including publication of verdicts. The central issue in the development of IT support for the judiciary worldwide appears the use of case management systems.

Information Technology (IT) has found its way into legal practice and into the Judiciary. The present publication provides an insight into the developments in three continents, and more specifically a country in each of these continents: Australia (Australia), Singapore (Asia), and Venezuela (South America). In addition, reports by Norway, the Netherlands and Italy are provided. These countries are considered the best equipped and organized in IT for the Judiciary in Europe. Amongst the issues addressed are electronic filing systems, decision support systems, the employment of knowledge management, and on-line services, including publication of verdicts. The central issue in the development of IT support for the Judiciary worldwide appears the use of case management systems. This book is a comprehensive source on the use of IT in legal organizations, in particular the Judiciary. Practitioners (attorneys, company lawyers, consultants), governments, academics and students will find it invaluable.

Abbreviations; 1. Introduction Anja Oskamp, Arno R. Lodder and Martin Apistola; 1.1 IT support of the judiciary; 1.2 Outline of this book; 1.3 IT support of the judiciary in Europe; 1.4 Important issues outside Europe; 1.5 Concluding observations; 2. Australia Anne Wallace; 2.1 Organisation/structure of the judiciary; 2.2 Information Technology: the most pressing issues; 2.3 (Legal) information/knowledge management: the most pressing issues; 2.4 The beneficial effects of these discussions; 3. Singapore Thian Yee Sze: 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Singapore's legal system and judicial structure; 3.3 The impetus behind the use of technology; 3.4 The early years of harnessing technology in the supreme court; 3.5 The vision of a paperless courtroom - towards building up a world-class judiciary; 3.6 An electronic litigation system for the 21st century; 3.7 Electronic trials and hearings - the birth of the technology courts; 3.8 Use of electronic documents in the courtroom; 3.9 The electronic filingsystem - a litigation system par excellence ; 3.10 Strategy behind the planning, development and implementation of the electronic filing system; 3.11 A watershed in the pursuit of an electronic litigation system; 3.12 Lawnet - a strategic national legal information network; 3.13 The final pieces of the electronic litigation system jigsaw - other key application systems and technological initiatives in the supreme court; 3.14 The realisation of the vision of an electronic litigation system - the dawn of a new era of the cybercourt; 3.15 The final destination of the journey; 4. Venezuela Ricardo Jimenez; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 The judiciary; 4.3 Information and communication technologies in the judiciary; 4.4 Introducing IT; 4.5 Trends in IT; 4.6 Legal information knowledge management; 5. IT in the Norwegian courts Morten S. Hagedal; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 The norwegian courts and the administration thereof; 5.3 Co-operation and co-ordination with the other law enforcement agencies - the'penal' chain; 5.4 The first wave of IT in the Norwegian courts; 5.5 Some effects of the introduction of IT, and some other aims of the court administration; 5.6 Dissemination of cases; 5.7 Sentencing support; 5.8 The second wave of IT in the Norwegian judiciary; 5.9 Bibliographical references; 6. The Netherlands Arno R. Lodder, Anja Oskamp and Ronald van den Hoogen; 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 IT support for judges concerning sentencing decisions; 6.3 IT support for the prosecutor concerning sentencing requests; 6.4 IT support for judges in determining damages; 6.5 Management information to evaluate the productivity and/or quality of judges; 6.6 On management, funding, design and evaluation; 6.7 Sentencing systems for judges and prosecutors; 6.8 On the mandatory use of systems; 6.9 Theoretical legal issues; 6.10 Theoretical ICT issues; 6.11 Completely digitized procedures; 6.12 The state of automation; 6.13 Bibliographical references; 7. Information and communication technology for justice:the Italian experience Marco Fabri; 7.1 Introduction; 7.2 The Italian judiciary: a brief overview; 7.3 ICT governance in the italian judicial system; 7.4 Information and communication technology in the judicial process; 7.5 Information and communication technology for court performance appraisal; 7.6 Concluding remarks; 7.7 Bibliographical references; Appendix 1 - the questionnaire 2001; Appendix 2 - the questionnaire 2000; About the authors; Index.

The countries covered by this publication are considered the best equipped and organized in IT for the Judiciary in their respective continents. Amongst the issues addressed are electronic filing systems, decision support systems, the employment of knowledge management, and on-line services, including publication of verdicts.