The Court decided to pilot a completely
electronic trial in possibly the most difficult of circumstances.
In De Rose v State of South
Australia [2002] FCA 1342 ('de
Rose') a native title hearing was held in an electronic
bush courtroom.
The pilot electronic trial informed
the Court's eCourt initiative, and in particular sought
to:
examined issues of standards and
protocols for courtroom technology; and
identified best practices in respect
to standards, costs and courtroom technology.
The experience in de
Rose suggests that data consistency, the integrity
of the data and the structural predictability of such
data are essential, as the high level of assistance provided
by the Court to the applicants and parties in respect
of access to the technology, training in the use of the
technology, and ongoing support during the trial.
The planning and implementation of
the de Rose trial
identified a number of issues, which, if considered early
in the planning of an electronic trial or appeal, will
contribute to the cost effectiveness of that proceeding
being conducted electronically. These issues include:
identification of consistent standards;
security;
speed of access;
flexibility;
responsibility for conversion,
compilation and management of data;
cost;
reliability of equipment, software
and data integrity;
technology capabilities; and
technical support and maintenance.
The Court proposes to issue guidelines
to practitioners and parties to assist in their consideration
of whether a trial ought to be conducted lectronically.
The guidelines will include information on relevant technical
issues.
Electronic Appeals
Appeals require the production of an
appeals bookcontaining 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 taken
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 appeals
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 products 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.
