In 2017, the Government paved the way for the civil and family courts of England and Wales to provide ‘innovative methods of resolving disputes.’ New legislation will underpin a £1bn investment in digitising the courts, that may see defendants convicted by computer and disputes settled by software. Tribunals dealing with benefits claims will also be reformed. But how effective are online courts? Are they just a way of saving money?

Joshua Rozenberg reports on what’s been achieved so far and asks whether online justice is just as good.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/justice-online-getting-better

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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