3.1.2 Virtual courts

‘Virtual enabled hearings’ are to be introduced in certain criminal proceedings. There would be no physical courtroom; all the parties would be participating by telephone or video conferencing links. Technology is changing how justice is being delivered and it is increasingly likely that the physical courtroom will be replaced by an online courtroom in vast numbers of cases.

The legal market is changing with greater use of technology. It is important to recognise that there is concern about whether online legal services can deliver access to justice. Lord Briggs discusses the feedback received in the consultation for the report, some of which was negative. The shift towards digital delivery may be problematic; how we respond to those challenges will determine whether justice online can be part of the solution to access to justice.

Activity 7 SWOT analysis

Timing: You should allow yourself 20 minutes to do this activity.

Think about the proposal for an online court and then click on the interactive to complete the drag and drop SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.

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SWOT analysis

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