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Secondly, the possible introduction of electronic filing ("e-filing") is being studied
with the aim of launching a pilot scheme involving selected court users.
Initial
research into the legal implications of such a system has been conducted and the
experience of overseas jurisdictions has been studied. Consultations will in due course
be held with the legal profession and other potentially interested parties on the
introduction of a pilot scheme.
Thirdly, arrangements are in hand to make available case extracts providing a quick
and up-to-date printout of key information about each case, including a list of
documents filed, orders made and pending applications, to those in need of such
information. This was an initiative aimed initially at assisting unrepresented litigants
to seek legal advice, enabling, for instance, a pro bono legal adviser to obtain an
authoritative and up-to-date overview of what has happened so far and what is about
to happen in the case. This is thought likely to be helpful since a problem faced by
many unrepresented litigants involves their inability accurately to provide such
information to an adviser. Such case extracts would also be helpful to solicitors on
being instructed or on taking over a case from another firm, as well as to masters and
judges taking up a case file before a hearing.
More can obviously be done with IT applications, especially, in support of judicial
case management. Various measures, tried and tested in other jurisdictions, such as
automatically generated notices to the parties and progress reports, can be explored
and adopted if found to be cost-effective. The Working Party believes, however, that
the basis for IT support for the proposed reforms is already in place and can be further
developed progressively as new procedural measures are introduced.
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