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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992
and it is indicative of the progress
likely to be found throughout the
Commonwealth of Australia. There
has been some resistance from the
police, who have found it necessary
to expend money on the acquisition
of computers for purposes lower on
their priorities, and in respect of
which they foresaw lower gains in
efficiency.
Similar opposition occurred in
respect of the placement of regu-
latory offences on computer some
years ago. Major initiators of such
prosecutions were municipalities,
most of wh om resisted the
acquisition of the necessary com-
puters to allow electronic trans-
mission. The manual system was
retained to operate concurrently
with the electronic system. The
city of Melbourne had no such
inhibitions, and very soon after it
was installed, many of the oppon-
ents engaged the Melbourne City
Council to process their prose-
cutions, that being far cheaper to
them than continuing to operate
the older manual system. The result
has been the rapid disuse of the
manual system - a firm indicator
of the real saving in costs.
Civil Sys t em
Such is the importance of the
criminal jurisdiction that it was
decided to give it the advantages of
computerisation first. However, at
the same time a pilot study was
introduced in one area of civil
litigation, that of default recovery
of civil debt. The area was domin-
ated by four debt collecting firms
who accounted for 90% of all
process issued. A fully computer-
ised system was introduced, with
the four firms supplying the sum-
monses by electronic means. The
Magistrates Court undertook the
entry of defences and of the orders
disposing of the matters. Terminals
were supplied at the counter for the
public. The system has worked
well, producing a more efficient
administration by the courts, and a
reduction of costs by the debt
collecting firms.
A system embracing all civil actions
in the Magistrates Courts is being
released at the moment. Once
tested in the courts, the profession
will be allowed access, and in the
not too distant future, all process
will be able to be lodged electroni-
cally. Decisions will be recorded
electronically and disseminated
similarly.
Work is under way on the prepara-
tion of similar systems for the
superior courts. The period of time
requested to be considered in the
preparation of this paper is ten
years. Within ten years, lawyers in
Victoria will be lodging all court
process by computer, and simul-
taneously transmitting it to their
opponents. Judges will be examin-
ing that process by having access
to a computer screen, or if they
prefer, by a printed document pro-
duced by the court computer.
Orders of the Court will be recorded
electronically, be available for
inspection electronically and will be
transmitted electronically.
"Within ten years, lawyers in
Victoria will be lodging all
court process by
computer,
and
simultaneously
transmitting
it to their
opponents."
Where there is an appeal, the file
will be transmitted electronically to
the appellate court. Notices of
appeal will be lodged in the same
fashion and it may well be that the
combersome appeal books will be
a forgotten relic of the past.
The trial
It is with the background of this
statement of the present and fore-
cast of the future that the impact
of computers on the trial must be
examined. It can be seen that the
presence of a computer on the
Bench is not merely inevitable, but
in Victoria has happened. It has
also happened on the Bar table. In
a trial in which the author has been
engaged for many months, the
prosecution has two and some-
times three computers on the Bar
table. The defence also has a
computer, it being linked by tele-
phone line to the minicomputer in
the solicitor's office. The com-
puters are unobtrusive in appear-
ance, but not in their impact on the
trial.
Cou rt process
If the whole of the court process is
recorded on a computer, and is
being examined by the judge
referring to a computer terminal, it
is far more sensible for the lawyer
appearing in the matter to likewise
employ a computer than it is to
carry in printed copies. Of course,
it is not necessarily a matter of
deciding between the two. Many
will always prefer to have a printed
copy of important documents, even
if on computer. There tends to be
a mix between the two. This does
not, however, deny the advantage
of seeing what the judge is seeing
as he is addressed.
That brings the discussion, then, to
a question of whether this does not
detract from an open hearing -
that is, open to the public. It may
be said, with some force, that a
debate between Judge and counsel
that centres upon what each sees
on a computer terminal necessarily
excludes
the
public
f r om
meaningful observation of what is
taking place. That is contrary to the
concept of an open court.
Such a problem arises at present
with the use of written documents.
Unless they are read in full in open
court, the observer is exlcuded
from knowledge of what is in them.
With computers, it can be the
same, but need not be. The written
document may be portrayed on a
screen by use of an overhead pro-
jector; the computer image may,
likewise, be so portrayed. Indeed, if
the court is appropriately equipped,
the computer image may be seen
on a screen by the flick of a switch,
whereas to do the same with a
document necessitates first prepar-
ing an overhead transparency.
Hence the computer poses no
greater difficulty than that at pres-
ent encountered with documents,
but may pose fewer problems in
ensuring the hearing is conducted
openly.
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