The CRDP’S current and future cyberjustice projects

AIJA, Sydney, June 27th, 2008

Presentation outline

The CRDPPast endeavoursThe Cyberjustice Laboratory

CyberjusticeJustice’s IllsThe Cyberjustice Laboratory’s ObjectivesMethod

The CRDP

(Centre de recherche en droit public)

… The most important legal research institute in Canada.

CRDP researchers essentially work on the different forms of contemporary law, the conditions in which they emerge and relations with other forms of normativity and social regulation.

CRDP researchers have been studying and working on the normative aspects of IT law since the ‘80.

The CRDP is…

1980 First CRDP publications on IT law…

Publication of “Contribution à l'étude de la notion de droit à l'information en droit québécois”, first French language book on IT law.

1985

Creation of a IT law research team at the CRDP.

1995

Creation of Cybernews (now Lex Electronica), one of the first online legal journals…

www.lex-electronica.org

1996

Birth of the Cybertribunal, 1st attempt at online mediation and arbitration.

1997

Publication of “Droit du cyberespace”. First French language book on cyberlaw.

2003

Inauguration of the L.R Wilson Research Chair on IT law and eCommerce.

Past Endeavours

From the cybertribunal to

Cyberjustice

The CyberTribunal was an experimental project aimed at solving conflicts arising from cyberspace. The project’s main goal was to see whether it was possible to use online dispute resolution to solve cyber conflicts which traditional laws couldn’t easily govern.

1996-1999

eResolution was more or less the offspring of the Cybertribunal. It offered:

An ICANN certified ODR platform for domain name disputes;

ODR platforms for conflicts relating to international trade and commerce (arbitration).

1999-2001

“The aim of the ECODIR Project is to set up a system devoted to the electronic resolution of Internet disputes arising between consumers and merchants.”

http://www.ecodir.org

2001-

Cybertribunal 2 (Moot court)

The “CyberTribunal 2” project is an electronic Moot court which aims at exposing law students to ODR practices through an online simulation of arbitration procedures.

2003-

A methodology to assess the legal risks associated with cyberjustice systems

This projects aims to:Trace the outlines of cyberjustice processes Identify legal risks caused by computer

“modelization” and networking;Establish a framework to better (1) appreciate and

measure the risks associated with cyberjustice before the implementation begins, (2) adapt procedure to an online environment to render the legal process more efficient while respecting constitutional and legal imperatives.

2006-2009

The Cyberjustice Laboratory

Thinking outside the proverbial

box

Cyberjustice

The Normative Effects of

Technological Architectures

Cyberjustice

The term “cyberjustice” refers to the integration of information and communication technologies into dispute resolution processes – whether they be judicial or extrajudicial.

The term “cyberjustice” refers to the integration of information and communication technologies into dispute resolution processes – whether they be judicial or extrajudicial.

In its broadest sense, cyberjustice implies the networking of all stakeholders in the informational chain for judicial cases.

This is what is referred to as an Integrated Justice Information System.

Perspective

There are instances in which the invention, design, or arrangement of a specific technical device or system becomes a way of settling an issue in the affairs of a particular society.

Langdon WINNER, The Whale and the Reactor, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986, p. 22.

As technologies are being built and put to use, significant alterations in patterns of human activity and human institutions are already taking place.

Langdon WINNER, The Whale and the Reactor, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986, p. 11.

[TRANSLATION] “public consciousness has yet to acknowledge the fact that all technology is associated with a particular ideology […] Not realizing that technology is charged with a program for social change, maintaining that technology is neutral […] is simply stupid”. (N. POSTMAN, Se distraire à en mourir, Flammarion, 1986, p. 209)

[TRANSLATION] “We all too often consider information as a thing and computer science as a neutral support, but with higher capabilities. Truth be told, machine processed information has certain specificities such as the non-ambivalence of languages […]” (A. VITALIS, Informatique, pouvoir et libertés, Economica, 1988, p. 206)

Justice’s Ills

Taking on the Justice System’s

Inefficiencies

Our traditional justice system is going through a period of crisis. Citizens are losing faithlosing faith1 in the judicial process, which is having serious repercussions on its use. In British-Columbia, for example, the number of cases brought before the courts is half half of what it was 10 years ago2. In Quebec, only about 25 000 files were set for trial before the Cour du Québec in 2005, a drop of almost drop of almost 10 000 files10 000 files (almost 25%) since ‘963.

1 T. CHOUINARD, “Crise de confiance de la population à l’égard de la justice”, Le Devoir, June 4th 2004.

2 B.M. YOUNG, Change in Legal Culture: Barriers and New Opportunities.

3 COUR DU QUÉBEC, Rapport public 2005-2006, p. 15.

Findings…

Identifiable causes…

A system based primarily on the use of paper and the physical presence of all parties;

Court cases are getting longer, more expensive, and more complex;

The current system impedes the circulation of criminal justice information among various stakeholders;

Mostly unjustified adversarial concepts;Lawyers hold a possibly unwarranted

monopoly on justice.

In the XIVth century, the excessive costs and long delays associated with the justice system were already being criticized:

Philippe de Mézières, preceptor to Charles VI (who reigned from 1380 to 1422), denounced the professionnalization of justice which killed its very spirit: “autrefois si naturel en France que régler les querelles ne supposait ni longs débats ni formes compliquées” (J. KRYNEN, L’empire du roi, Paris, Gallimard, 1993, p. 264) :

“Bien devroient les François regrecter, et non sans laermes (…) les bons temps d’orez du royaume de France, quand les advocaz vivoient simplement de leur patrimonie ou labeur, sans escorcher les gens (…) Lors les vaillans hommes et preudommes advocaz donnoient conseil aux juges d’abregier les querelles et avoeint abhominacion de toutes gaulces cautelles et longues escriptures”. (Philippe de Méxières, Le Songe du vieil pèlerin, 1389, Cambridge, G.W. Coopland, 2 vol., Tome 1, p. 457-507, as quoted by Krynen, supra).

… which have been identified for years

“Au XVe siècle, Jean Juvénal des Ursins, archevêque de Reims, adresse à Charles VII de longues remontrances.

Il se plaint d’une justice trop coûteuse, trop longue et embrouillée; même au parlement, on l’avait dit en 1413 : les causes sont comme immortelles” (J. KRYNEN, L’empire du roi, Paris, Gallimard, 1993, p. 267).

Access to justice and public security can (and should) profit from the opportunities created by information and communication technologies (ICT)…

The Cyberjustice Laboratory’s Objectives

Rethinking the Judicial Process

A unique research facility…

A technologically advanced courtroom Electronic workstations Intranet Touch screens Digital cameras Holographic projections Virtual reality

A research laboratory for the development of judicial software

Techno-judicial Techno-judicial Objective

Socio-judicial Socio-judicial Objective

LaboratoryLaboratory

Two main objectives to the project:

• Develop software modules for the judicial process in collaboration with its main actors;

• Take advantage of these developments to put forth new process models (procedure and evidence).

• Identify obstacles to the networking (and computerization) of the justice system (sociological, psychological, historical, judicial, etc.);

• Create innovative networking models while taking into account the particularities of both the judicial and cultural contexts.

Objectives

Laboratory

Techno-judicial objective Socio-judicial objectiveObjectives

Object

Areas of research

Procedure Processes

Area 1:

Develop software modules to serve procedural justice

Area 2:

Use technology to make procedure more efficient

Area 3:

Identify obstacles to the networking of the justice system

Area 4:

Create new networking models

Techno-judicial Objectives

A place where ideas can be tested and exchanged between…

Canadian as well as foreign Ministries of Justice Judges Lawyers and barristers Court administrators Researchers

An environment to…

Evaluate, adapt and upgrade technologies developed for the court system;

Optimize the legal process through the networking of its main interveners;

Allow interveners to take part in the development of software aimed at: Increasing access to the courts; Accelerating the legal process; Lightening courtroom caseloads; Making life easier for lawyers, judges and court clerks…

Socio-judicial Objectives

Rethinking procedure… (1 of 2)

Reevaluate the rituals underlying the judicial process; Eliminate obsolete norms; Adopt new rituals better suited to the contemporary

realities of the practice of law and to citizens’ expectations.

[TRANSLATION] ”The Code of Civil Procedure has gone through numerous modifications since its creation, but the philosophy on which it was founded has yet to evolve“ (Me Hubert Reid)

Through the creation of an international networkAllows us to learn from the mistakes and successes

of other jurisdictions;Allows the development of more uniform

international processes, which has become necessary in our highly globalized society…

Rethinking procedure… (2 of 2)

Method

A Collaborative, Progressive and

Modular Approach

Developing a new outlook on our relationship with Justice

Develop a methodology for risk assessment with regards to cyberjustice systems;

Adopt and implement more efficient strategies to facilitate interactions with the different components of the judicial process;

Reestablish the balance between law and Justice…

In order to do so, we must take advantage of technological solutions and develop software which responds to the expressed and identified needs of the judicial process’ different interveners…

…through a collaborative approach

Favor dialog and consultations;Allow the evaluation an upgrade of

technologies through simulation;Make source code freely available in

order to benefit from the expertise of foreign experts…

…through a progressive approach

Learning curve to allow users to master the basics of a given system before offering more advanced options;

Constant updates to software in order to better suit users’ needs and respond to user comments and reactions…

…through a modular approach

efilingLong-distance

hearingsDecision-drafting

software

Interactive schedules

Electronic file management

Holographic testimonies

Virtual crime scene reproductions

Motion-drafting software

Electronically managed calendars

videoconferencing

Cross-referencingSecuritized networks for lawyers

Electronic signatures Long-distance oaths

www.crdp.umontreal.ca

Nicolas VermeysCoordinator

Centre de recherche en droit public

Faculté de droitUniversité de Montréal

P.O. Box 6128, Downtown Stn Montreal (Quebec)

CANADA H3C 3J7 Tel. : (1) 514-343-6111 ext. 0652

Fax : (1) 514-343-7508

Thank you!