• Report on the Electronic Appeals Project

• A Judicial Support System for the WA Supreme Court

• Judicial Support in New Zealand

Chief Justice Michael Black:

Chief Justice Black informed the conference that the Electronic Appeals Project had its origins at a meeting of the Council of Chief Justices in October 1995. The Council was discussing the possibility of uniform appeal rules, and this issue, together with concern over the volume of appeal documents, lead them to investigate the idea of getting parts of transcripts into a situation where documents on disk could form part of the appeal documents. A further suggestion was for the electronic scanning of exhibits. These investigations were the first step towards the concept of electronic appeals

The Council first appointed a working party to investigate the idea and, in 1997 appointed a consultant. Since then the project has expanded and the Full Court of the Federal Court is already hearing some electronic appeals.

He noted that the project is not paper free. It also points to further projects, for example, electronic filing.

He noted that the project is being lead by the Australian judiciary and he rejected assertions that judges are resistant to technological change.
 

Ms Joanne Sherman

Ms Sherman explained that the central rational for the project was to avoid wastage and inefficiency and promote commonality. The project structure involved an examination and recommendation of practical solutions for all aspects of the process. There have been challenges involved in dealing with the changes in technology over the past two years since the project was initiated. The project aimed to develop a framework, it was not prescriptive and would aim to establish guidelines for the capture and storage of electronic material. The focus for the electronic appeal nook will be a browser interface.

She emphasised that the project was not a paper replacement program. It aimed to set standards with regard to:

- Capture of key materials
- transcripts and judgments
- Lodgment of information
- Consistency of source

It recommends that:

1: Courts should keep quality controlled electronic copies
2: Courts should retain electronic transcripts for 5 years
3: Courts should use Medium Neutral citation

- Paragraph numbers in judgments

The approach to the project has involved:

• The development of a model framework
• A Cost benefit analysis
• The formulation of standards
• A focus on consultation

The challenges for the project have been:

• different jurisdictions
• different rules and procedures
• different inclusions
• different preparation responsibilities
• source materials are not always accessible
• materials are never in standard format

The Model includes:

• lower court’s judgment and transcript
• other materials
• Web browser interface

The model was demonstrated to the conference. In discussion it was noted that it proceeds on the philosophy that the technology is a tool, a means to an end, for the trained analytical mind.