Online courts are a 'no-brainer', says former Solicitor-General Mike Heron

Thursday, 6 December 2018

Former Solicitor-General Mike Heron says online courts are 'the inevitable future'.

A former Solicitor-General says online courts are a 'no-brainer' for cutting down wait times and court costs.

Mike Heron, who served as New Zealand's second-highest ranking law officer from 2012-2016, is calling for the Government to explore services where both parties can submit claims online and have their disputes settled by a judge or arbitrator without the need to ever appear in a physical court or tribunal.

The former Solicitor-General says moving some civil cases online will free up space in courts.

'Our current system, which is antiquated, largely paper-based, rule-bound and lawyer-heavy, is totally unsuited to providing access to justice in a modern, people-centred way,' he said.

Heron wants to see an online system replace the Disputes Tribunal, and then gradually expand to cover almost all disputes, such as those handled by the Tenancy Tribunal.

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Mike Heron said the current paper-based system is 'antiquated'.

'That is the inevitable future, that [online courts] take the place of low-level civil court proceedings.

'It's an absolute no-brainer… We just need the courage to make it happen.

'It's about access to justice, without leaving home, without taking time off work, or spending a fortune on lawyers.'

Online Disputes Resolution (ODR) is currently being tested in a number of countries around the world.

The Canadian province of British Columbia launched the a system called the Civil Resolution Tribunal in 2016, to deal with all civil disputes under $5000. It handled 14,000 cases in its first seven months. Notably, 45 per cent of submissions were made outside of normal business hours, which officials point to as a sign that it is increasing access to justice.

In Australia, both Victoria and New South Wales have run pilot programmes to test ODR on small civil cases.

In the UK, a new role of Online Facilitator was created, which assists in mediating and resolving minor disputes.

Heron said ODR wil not only speed up resolutions and save money, but will encourage more people to use the legal system.

In 2017, New Zealand district courts dealt with more than 130,000 criminal cases. The civil cases numbered just 712.

District courts only deal with money claims between $15,000 and $200,000.

'Right now, if you're a small business that's owed $40,000, say if it's an issue with a contractor or a builder or a car, and there's a dispute, how are you going to recover that money? You've got to sue in the district court. That's a long, slow process, and it's so expensive that it may not even be worth it. It makes no economic sense to spend $20,000-$50,000 to recover a debt when it's uncertain if you'll win.'

He launched a private service in 2016 called CODR - Complete Online Disputes Resolution. It's relatively small, he estimates they've had less than 50 cases total, and specialises in divorce proceedings.

According to CODR Development Manager Steven Bird, they can arbitrate a divorce in less than 90 days, when it would take upwards of two years to make a claim in the family court.

However, the limitation of CODR is that it only works when both parties want to reach an agreement, but it is less effective when there is uneven bargaining power simply because it is too costly for the party with less money to sue.

Heron believed the Government should step in to provide a more effective service.

'A private system is not the answer. A public system, where people have to use it, that's the answer. Our main goal is to demonstrate that it can work and that it is worthwhile.'