The Modernization Challenge -Courts 2.0

James E. McMillan

National Center for State Courts - USA

Website: http://www.ncsc.org/

Challenges and Solutions

Challenges• Financial Pressures• Realities & Barriers• Cost of the “Paper

Business”• Funding and tradition• Trust & Validation• Official record &

archiving

Solutions• Transforming the court

customer experience• There’s a court “app”

for that• Engineering the court

operations and organization

Barriers (Real and Perceived)

• Funding• Technology• Trust• Privacy• Fear!

New Realities

• All governments are under financial pressure• The digital divide is essentially gone– Nearly 80% of Canadians use the Internet – People want information and services 24/7

• Canadian Federal Courts have E-filing – and attorneys are wondering why don’t the rest of the courts have it too?

• Transition and investment costs are significant and the courts are technically challenged…

Return on Investment

Electronic Intake, Electronic Storage, Electronic Use $0.11 per page

Electronic Intake, Electronic Storage, Paper Use (Paper on Demand) $0.24 per page

Paper Intake, Electronic Storage, Paper Use (Paper on Demand) $.069 per page

Electronic Intake, Electronic & Paper Storage, Paper Use $0.57 per page

New Services = New Funding Possibilities

• English Tradition• E-Filing and electronic records is providing

the funding for court technology• Data access– US Federal Courts receive more than $41 million

in access fees from PACER each year– Over 90% of this revenue comes from the

commercial data aggregators (credit bureaus and background check services)

E-FilingPortal

Self-Represented

Registered Electronic Filing Service Provider User

Government Filers

Courts“Bulk” Filers

But What About The Judges?

Electronic Judicial Bench It Must be Better Than Paper!

http://courttechbulletin.blogspot.com/2011/12/electronic-judicial-bench.html

Touch Screen

Pad & Tablet = Your Files

E-Bench Signatures

ACTIVE NOT PASSIVE CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

E-documents• Smart Forms

– Meta data Identification– Online– Interactive

• Open Document Format (ODF)• PDF/A-2 • Electronic Archiving

Better Court Scheduling• The “file stack” issue can be overcome• Time certain scheduling– Internet, Telephone– Use scheduling metrics to project appearance and

wait times• Law enforcement scheduling interface• Kiosk self check-in– Bar code or key

• Flat panel displays– Flexible– Multilingual

Multi-Point Video Conferencing

The Public Interface to the Courts Access to Justice (A2J)

New Communications for a New Age

• New age– Citizens want to control their lives– Citizens want to choose communication method– Citizens want reminders!

• Nova Scotia has a Twitter account and the Supreme Court of Canada is on Facebook

• Interactive– I-Jury program (90% yields)

First Judicial District of Pennsylvania “App”

Transformation Lessons

• Developed comprehensive Electronic Record approach (electronic ecosystem)

• E-record official• Allowed reorganization of clerk’s

(registry) operation• Consolidated case management• Simplified citizens use of the court• Civil case discovery reformed

Questions and Discussion?

Links

• National Center for State Courts – http://www.ncsc.org/ • Court Technology Bulletin (with links to many resources) - http://courttechbulletin.blogspot.com• Court Technology Framework – http://www.ncsconline.org/wikis/ctf/images/1/15/CTF_definitions_rev_15-Apr-2010.pdf• Configurable Case Management Systems - http://contentdm.ncsconline.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/tech&CISOPTR=565 (pdf)• Eight Rules of E-Filing, Conclusion and Index - http://courttechbulletin.blogspot.com/2011/10/eight-rules-of-e-filing-conclusion.html• DRM Technology in the Courts - http://www.ncsconline.org/WC/Publications/KIS_CtFutu_Trends05.pdf (page 77)• There’s an App For That Court - http://courttechbulletin.blogspot.com/2011/11/theres-app-for-that-court.html• Courthouse Retrospective book -

http://www.ncsc.org/services-and-experts/areas-of-expertise/facilities-planning/retrospective-2001-2010.aspx• Electronic Judicial Bench - http://courttechbulletin.blogspot.com/2011/12/electronic-judicial-bench.html