More now than ever before justice systems around the globe have been required to innovate and recognise that individuals and corporations are now managing the majority of their affairs online.

With news ways of working and increasing pressures on justice system resources, governments and public institutions are looking towards digital technology to deliver efficient solutions and respond to the rapidly evolving needs and demands of current, future and potential users.

This session will explore the benefits of innovation within legal frameworks, including the potential to increase access to justice by providing additional and alternative methods of participation. For some citizens, accessing justice via traditional forms may be prohibitive from an economic and social perspective. Digital innovation has the potential to be more inclusive, especially for people with disabilities whose physical and or mental health issues have previously limited or discouraged access to justice.

However, advances in digital innovation, particularly at the speed and extent of those seen in other professional industries, raise important considerations. Will digital innovation have the effect of normalising self-representation or under-representation, and therefore run the risk of depriving some of the most vulnerable citizens of effective and meaningful access to justice?

Moreover, how will digital innovation reach and impact less developed systems, especially those who face challenges with securing basic IT infrastructure?

Where do we draw the line, and how do we ensure that digital innovation in the justice space is led by the legal profession and has robust safeguards to uphold the rule of law and ensure fair and equitable access to justice?

The session will examine issues of application and enforcement, with dynamic discussion from a diverse range of leading legal professionals.

Shannon Salter who is Chair of the Civil Resolution Tribunal in British Columbia, Canada, and an adjunct professor at the UBC Allard School of Law, teaching administrative law and legal ethics. Shannon was a BC Supreme Court judicial law clerk before practicing civil litigation at a large Vancouver law firm for several years. She has served as a vice chair of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal and as a board member of the College of Registered Nurses of BC. Shannon is currently a commissioner of the Financial Institutions Commission, vice president of the BC Council of Administrative Tribunals, and a board member of the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII). In 2017, Ms. Salter was named one of the 25 Top Most Influential Lawyers in Canada, and was previously recognized as one of Canada’s New Law Pioneers by the Canadian Bar Association and an Access to Justice All-Star by the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSLAP). She is also the 2016 recipient of the Adam Albright Award for outstanding teaching by an adjunct professor.

Professor Richard Susskind OBE who is the world’s most cited author on the future of legal services. He is President of the Society for Computers and Law, Chair of the Advisory Board of the Oxford Internet Institute, the Founder of Remote Courts Worldwide, and, since 1998, has been Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Richard’s work has been translated into 18 languages and he has been invited to speak in over 60 countries. He has written numerous books, including Tomorrow’s Lawyers (2013, 2017), and Online Courts and the Future of Justice (2019). In the 1980s, he wrote his doctorate on artificial intelligence and the law at Balliol College, Oxford.
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