The eCourt strategy has several objectives, one of which is that the Court should take advantage of technological opportunities to achieve benefits for both the Court and its users.
The eCourt strategy:
complements traditional means of transacting with the Court;
develops innovative approaches to meeting the needs of Court users and extends the choices available to those wanting access to services and appropriate information;
improves and enhances access to justice, and reduces inconvenience and the cost of justice to parties, particularly those in outlying regional and country areas;
focuses on the needs of the broad community (independent of geographic or socioeconomic circumstances);
assists judges, regardless of location, to carry out their duties as efficiently and effectively as possible;
enables the Court's administration to support the judicial function and delivery of services to eCourt users, efficiently and with minimum disruption to the user; and
makes better use of tried and tested technologies, such as telephone services and video-conferencing.
The eCourt strategy is technically and administratively flexible in order to accommodate future changes to the Court's business. In line with world wide trends, the eCourt strategy makes use of the Internet to facilitate seamless and easy access to internal and external databases.
The management structure overseeing the implementation of the eCourt initiatives is committed to ensuring that the strategy's progress is reviewed on an ongoing basis and will re-evaluate priorities and initiatives, if required, against emerging best practice
Casetrack
In 2004, the Court completed the implementation of Casetrack, its new case management system.
Casetrack is a complete court management system that will be the foundation for many of the eCourt initiatives and underpins the Court's judicial and business operations.
Casetrack supports the Judges and assists with the management of their dockets. It records case events, manages Court lists and records orders and outcomes. Casetrack is the primary source for statistical, operational and other essential management information.
eSearch
eSearch allows the public to search for selected information in Casetrack via the Court's website.
The case information provided on eSearch includes participants in the case, dates that matters are listed and the text of orders, where available, that may have been made. The database in updated in real time and includes information on all cases that have commenced since 1 January 1984.
As the database is being continually updated, the results of a search may vary from time to time as new information is entered.
The site also includes an eSearch Help facility
eFiling
and eLodgment
The Court was the first Australian national court to introduce electronic filing. The Electronic
Filing System
(EFS) is accessible through the Court's website and allows for the lodgment of applications and supporting documentation and the credit card payment of filing fees.
The Court introduced the EFS in manageable stages so that the both the Court and users could take advantage of its significant benefits without disruption to current practices and procedures.
Stage One commenced in October 2000 and enabled litigants to file documents and pay their filing fees via the Court's website, but documents were processed by the Court in hard copy. In March 2001 Stage Two enabled filing, processing and return of documents electronically.
Ongoing feedback from users has resulted in further enhancements to the system including notification to clients of receipt and acceptance/rejection of their documents, capacity for them to amend their registration details and the inclusion of a comments box to enable users to communicate with Court staff as part of the filing process.
eLodgment will replace the current EFS in the first half of 2008, and will be integrated with Casetrack. This integration will facilitate the automation of data entry from eLodgment into Casetrack, after staff have completed a checking process.
eCourtroom
eCourtroom is a virtual courtroom that assists in the management of pre-trial matters by allowing directions and other orders to be made online via the Court's website.
The Federal Court of Australia is the first court in Australia to introduce such an initiative. Using eCourtroom, the Court may receive submissions and affidavit evidence and make orders as if the parties were in a normal courtroom.
The eCourtroom includes an online User Manual and a public transcript facility. The User Manual provides access to a self-paced guide that explains how to use the eCourtroom. The public transcript area lists those matters that have been dealt with on the eCourtroom. The selection of a particular matter will provide access to the electronic transcript of that matter. The electronic transcript is the record of all messages posted by the presiding Judge and parties to the eCourtroom in the selected matter.
eCase Administration
The Court's eCase Administration is a service that may be used by practitioners or parties to communicate with chambers' staff, on case related issues, in a secure environment. Only parties to the matter or their legal representatives will have access to this service and access is restricted to those matters where they are a participant in the proceedings. It is in essence an effective case management tool for both chambers and the participants in the matter.
The eCase Administration service is integrated with eCourtroom and the one userid and login will give users access to their matters in both these services. Parties may initiate a discussion, on this service and discussions held in this forum cannot be viewed by the general public.
Electronic trials
The Court decided to trial a complete electronic trial in possibly the most difficult of circumstances. In de
Rose v Fuller and the State of South Australia
(de Rose) a native title hearing was held in an electronic bush courtroom. This trial sought to:
examine issues of standards and protocols for courtroom technology; and
identify best practice
The experience in de Rose suggests that data consistency, the integrity of the data and structural predictability are essential. Also essential is a high level of assistance provided by the Court to the applicants and parties in respect of access to technology, training in the use of technology, and ongoing support during the trial.
The planning and implementation of de Rose identified a number of issues, which, if considered early in the planning of an electronic trial, would contribute to the effectiveness of the proceeding. These issues included:
identification of consistent standards;
security;
speed of access;
flexibility;
responsibility for conversion, compilation and management of electronic data;
cost to the Court and to the parties;
reliability of equipment, software and data integrity;
technology capabilities; and
technical support and maintenance.
The Court proposes to issue guidelines and practice notes to practitioners and parties to assist in their consideration of whether a trial ought to be conducted electronically. These guidelines will include information on relevant technical issues.
Electronic Appeals
Appeals require the production of an appeal book containing the record of 'the Court below'. That record may be partly paper and partly electronic. Often, electronic records are converted to paper records for inclusion in the appeals book.
Much time, effort and cost is expended to limit the contents of the paper appeal book to only those issues that need to be considered by the appeals court. Yet, many more documents are included in the appeal book than are needed by the appeals court or are ultimately referred to by the parties.
By converting paper documents into electronic form, the Court proposes to pilot the use of electronic appeal books in conventional appeals. The pilot will allow the Court to test the assumption that appeals may be conducted more efficiently if electronic appeal books are used in all appeals.
A requirement that electronic appeal books be used in all appeals will involve the Court considering the implications of standardising the software to be used and providing appropriate technological assistance to those parties who would otherwise be unable to convert paper documents into electronic form.
The Court recognises that for electronic appeals to become the norm, it must take the lead as part of its eCourt strategy.
The Court will implement electronic appeal books in manageable stages, in much the same way that it successfully implemented electronic filing.
Electronic courtrooms
and hearings
The Court has made significant progress in enhancing existing courtrooms and developing new courtrooms that are electronically flexible and able to cater for integrated electronic trials, with connection to the Court's network and the Internet, and the integration of audio, video and data communications and information.
Accessibility technologies are also being progressively implemented, including hearing loops, audio and video systems, voice reinforcement systems, teleconferencing and videoconferencing systems and CCTV linkage to other courtrooms and spaces to enable public viewing and media coverage.
Document Management System
The Court and those who come before it need effective and reliable access to case related information. The Document Management System, which allows for the delivery of 'documents' in electronic form, will be integrated with the Case Management System (CMS) so that the documentation in a matter before the Court can be accessed from the CMS.
The Court is also considering more effective systems for the management of the Court's administration files, to enable prompt access to, and retrieval of information on these files.
Video conferencing
The Court has implemented a national video-conferencing system (the first of its kind in the world), that has reduced the cost and time of witnesses giving evidence and enabled more effective management of cases by presiding Judges who may be at a location away from their normal place of sitting.
The Court recognises that video-conferencing facilities are increasingly relevant to ensure participation from rural and remote localities in matters before the Court. The Court is currently exploring opportunities for enhanced use of video-conferencing through the eCourt strategy.
The Court has issued a
video
conferencing guide for those wishing to use video conferencing in proceedings before the Court.
Bringing it all together - the
'My Files' concept
During 2003 the Court undertook a detailed review as to how it might bring together the various elements of its eCourt strategy so that judges, staff, legal practitioners and the public may access case information and use such facilities as the eCourt Forum and electronic filing from within a single environment. The review has led to the development of the 'My Files' concept whereby a single web-based interface (or portal) will effectively integrate the electronic provision of information and services.
The ‘My Files’ concept will be delivered through the Commonwealth Courts Portal (CCP), a joint initiative of the Federal Court, Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court of Australia.
The CCP will provide Practitioners, Judicial Officers and other users with information from the Case Management System that is filtered to provide a view that focuses on their files in the three Courts.
The phased implementation of the 'My Files' project over the next year or so will result in:
improved access to the Court by increasing the services available online;
a single logon which will allow the user (whether a judge, staff member or practitioner) to access all the services and information he or she requires, particularly through the use of electronic case files;
a single point of data entry so that the information does not have to be re-entered on multiple systems;
easier access to a range of online 'tools' that will allow each user to work directly on his or her matters by, for example, updating information, lodging and accessing documents or participating in an online forum; and
increased automation of certain case management processes.
