Is going Dutch the solution to the legal aid crisis?

As further cuts take their toll on legal centres nationwide, the second meeting of the All Party Group (APG) was held to discuss how people are accessing legal aid.

One of the more pressing themes of the session highlighted the potential impact technology could have on the advice sector. With other countries exploring new initiatives to make legal services more accessible to people on low incomes, should the UK follow suit?

The UK has experimented with delivering legal assistance digitally with some success: the Citizens Advice Bureau has a service that provides comprehensive information online at the initial stage, and assistance through a helpline and web chat service.

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter offers a similar service, with additional features including template letters and documents. More recently, the Civil Justice Council's (CVC) Advisory Group proposed the introduction of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) for low value claims under £25,000, which is expected to increase access to justice and reduce costs to both litigants in person and the civil justice system.

With the increase in demand for legal aid, owing to a growing population and reports of 'advice deserts', a more efficient online system would surely provide greater access to justice.

Rechtwijzer

The Dutch Legal Aid Board has developed a legal advice site, Rechtwijzer, for parties to resolve disputes. Its focus is on self-help and mediated settlement without employing lawyers and courts from the outset.

Introduced in 2007, the application provides a triage system with free 'tactical guidance' and a 'dispute roadmap' to help users solve their conflicts. Rechtwijzer 2.0 is currently being piloted and offers an improved service from information to resolution with its initial focus on divorcing couples. Where the parties cannot reach an agreement, an adjudicator is brought in either online or in a face-to-face meeting.

Additionally, Canada is set to introduce its first online tribunal, following the enactment of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Amendment Act earlier this year. British Columbia's Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) has acknowledged, however, that this will not improve access to justice or reduce costs.

So, could the UK follow the Dutch or Canadians? Roger Smith OBE, author of Digital Delivery of Legal Services to People on Low Incomes, believes Rechtwijzer 1.0 is 'wholly transferrable' but expresses caution at implementing either the updated system or British Columbia's into the UK.

'What the Dutch Legal Aid Board intended was that solicitors could take the package and put it on their own website, so it's wholly transferrable. It seems to me unproblematic and a wholly good thing. The new thing about it being the interactivity that begins with you and doesn't just scroll up information. It's a real step forward.'

He added: 'This is a time of experiment. The most powerful use of digital is linking the human with the digital. Some people will need face-to-face advice if physically present and others may need bits of it throughout the process.'

On adopting an Online Dispute Determination (ODD) system similar to Rechtwijzer 2.0, Smith commented: 'Getting closer to the decision making is technically possible. The Dutch system works differently to the UK. You work on a settlement and then must go before a lawyer for independent review before going to a judge, so it doesn't incorporate the decision making in it.

'If I were cautious, as a policy maker, with it being trialled in Holland and British Columbia, I might wait a year to see the results of what happens.'

Introducing a new digital platform, however, provides many challenges. Highlighting the digital divide in the UK, research from the University of Oxford shows one in five people do not have access to the internet. Accessibility is key and any new system must provide greater access to justice for those on low incomes by meeting the need for initial advice and information as well as resolve disputes as early as possible.

While the development costs for going digital would be high, running costs should be considerably lower. An argument could be made that at least some of the money the government is saving from on legal aid and court closures could be put towards digital replacements. The ODR system proposed by the Civil Justice Council demonstrates a step forward in attitudes towards the use of digital courts.

At the recent APG meeting, the director of the Law Centres Network, Julie Bishop, commented that 'digital is a tool, not the answer' in the fight to ensure access to legal aid. However, with the Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, acknowledging that the justice system in England and Wales is 'creaking and outdated' an investment in technology may provide the remedy the legal sector is looking for.

Matthew Rogers is an editorial assistant at Solicitors Journal 

matthew.rogers@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @sportslawmatt