LAW Digital Moot Courtroom

1. 1 LAWDigital Moot Courtroom School of Law Murdoch University Ganasan Arujunan 12TH May 2004

2. 2 Goals Experimental and demonstration site for students, Legal Profession, Govt Agencies, etc. Offering training of different types for Law u/grad and p/grad students, legal profession and government departments, etc. The determination of how technology can assist all aspects of the legal system. Ongoing experimentation, specific studies and via the ongoing use of the School’s technology.

3. 3 Long term Goals Research site for the results of ICT integration and to determine the legal and practical consequences of high-technology applications, particularly the effects of human interaction with technology.  Use of Freehills moot court for actual trials.

4. 4 ICT & Legal Process Database access Information access by Judges on accused appearing before them/when sentencing instant data access by the various agencies in the criminal and civil processes, from arrest to conviction Evidence presentation Courtroom technology E-Filing Virtual Court

5. 5 DMC Technology Evidence and document display technology Electronic Presentation of trial documents/evidence Display monitors Document camera DVD and VCR player Video and Audio Conferencing Remote testimony – witness/expert witness Pre-trial proceeding-remote appearances Appeals

6. 6 DMC Tech Cont’ Digital Recording Audio System Litigation support system Internet access to research materials Access to office files/database Electronic presentation – plug in lap top and make power point presentation displayed on the projection screen and the LCD screens

7. 7 DMC Courtroom Technology Cont’ Electronic Trial software /Court record system Document management software with powerful search engines, storage and imaging and retrieval capabilities. The software enables the pleadings, documents or exhibits be referred to electronically and displayed on all the screen simultaneously.

8. 8 Integrated Network Touch control panel All the above System is controlled from single point in the courtroom.

9. 9 Other Training Environment Courtroom21 http://www.courtroom21.net/ DOAR’s Digital Court http://www.doar.com/digital_court/index.asp

10. 10 Actual e-Courtroom Superior court of Arizona http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/ecourtroom/index.asp# Singapore http://www.supcourt.gov.sg/video/eng_elitigation.mpg Queensland http://ecourts.courts.qld.gov.au/

11. 11 Judges Views “The amount of evidence presented in court has increased strikingly in the last 40 years, Judge Kaplan said, and improved technology makes it easier for jurors to sift through the information” "The benefit is that it makes the trial go a lot faster and thus enables us to do more in the same amount of time, and it is much clearer to the jury to be able to get information this way," Judge Kaplan said. "Whenit's well used, the juries love it." Judge Kaplan is a member of a committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States that makes recommendations about improving technology in the federal courts.

12. 12 Maricopa Courts - Judges’ view “These E-Courtrooms represent a profound and fundamental change in the way court proceedings are conducted," said Superior Court Presiding Judge Colin F. Campbell. "Widespread use of technology during trial enhances the way evidence is presented, allowing facts, concepts and ideas to be more readily understood by jurors, litigants, spectators, lawyers and the Court."

13. 13 Save time Studies have found that high-tech court proceedings can cut trial time for a civil case by 25 percent. The new technology allows lawyers to use laptops and a touch screen computer to simultaneously display and annotate evidence on the monitors in the jury box and around the courtroom. It is an easier, and more effective way to litigate a case.

14. 14 Lawyers Views Ms. McKenna (a partner with the New York law firm of Proskauer Rose ) "Lawyers who don't come prepared to use the technology do their clients a disservice and, in the eyes of the jurors, appear less prepared and less sophisticated”. The New York Times May 29 2003

15. 15 Another view An excerpt from New York Law Journal “The future may be a dark place for those who have not yet considered bringing technology to the courtroom... First, you may find yourself in front of a judge who either presides over all his/her cases in a high-tech courtroom …... Another common scenario is receiving notification by opposing counsel that they intend to use trial technology. Such notice is typically given no sooner than a month before trial, if at all. You will need to consider whether opposing counsel’s use of technology will put him at an advantage with the trier of fact. Empirical data and post verdict interviews with jurors and judges indicate that it does”

16. 16 Legal IT Training Courtroom 21 Summer 2004 Lawyer and Legal IT Training Courtroom Technology: A Survey Course for Litigators Persuasive Courtroom Presentation Technology Electronic Discovery and Evidence Deposition of the Technology Forensic Witness Electronic Discovery of Email: A Course for Litigators & Investigators

17. 17 IT related courses King’s College of London MSc/Post grad Dip in IT and Internet Law http://www.dcs.kcl.ac.uk/teaching/msc/itil/index.html Certificate of Litigation Support/Document Management. Sir Zelman Cowen Centre for Continuing Legal Education http://www.vu.edu.au/cowencentre/courses.html Master of Laws in Information Technology Law University of Hong Kong http://www.hku.hk/law/prog/postgrad-llm-itlaw.html

18. 18 Online Legal Resources For Australian Legislations and cases http://www.austlii.edu.au For Australian Legislations http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/ Subscription legal resources http://www.lexisnexis.com

19. 19 Research Area ICT & COURT PROCESS Involve the studies of – Society, Legal System, Law Courts, Stakeholders, and Individuals and issues surrounding each levels Mapping of the above issues with real scenarios Researchable area-with cost & time limitation in mind. Future Direction

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21. 21 Issues Do they work? What impact ICT has on the administration of justice? What is necessary to create and operate these facilities? To what extent, if at all, do they disadvantage some parties, counsel, or others? What are the collateral consequences of high technology litigation? Are technology augmented litigation and high technology courtrooms consistent with traditional humanistic goals? http://www.courtroom21.net/About_Us/Articles/virtualcourtsinglespace.htm

22. 22 International Working Conference on Technology Augmented Litigation - Sept 1998 Large scale technology use at trial was desirable or hurtful? Attended by judges, lawyers, administrators, support professionals, and experts in the area, the Working Conference concluded that: The adoption of courtroom technology was ongoing and likely unstoppable; Courtroom technology was desirable; Known problems involving electronic incompatibility of evidentiary files required resolution through creation or adoption of standards; It is too early in the adoption of technology to attempt to regulate its use in any thorough fashion but that liberal use of pretrial notice and disclosure is at least helpful in avoiding problems.

23. 23 The End "Technology is only a means to an end; it is not an end in itself," "The goal is justice at all times, not technology.“ Professor Lederer Director of Courtroom21