2021: I can see clearly now

On this day 12 months ago I finished my thoughts about 2020 with this line:

2019 was fabulous. 2020 promises more of the same. Bring it on!

12 tumultuous months later the phrase “be careful what you wish for” comes to mind. That tumult was and continues to be an awful but also a remarkable mix of tragedies and triumphs. Who would have thought the ingenious, energetic minds of our scientists would have devised so quickly a vaccine that promises an end to the tyranny of the virus.  

That same ingenuity and energy has also been evident at the MoJ and HMCTS with more civil justice reform delivered in six months than in the preceding 6 years. The hard work of civil servants, Judiciary, professional lawyers and all users is to be admired and congratulated. Can that same energy be harnessed to deliver longer lasting reform?

I believe deeper and longer lasting reform is on the way which will work to benefit lawyers and citizens alike.

Despite the predictable but nonetheless tragic refusal of the Government to provide any more funds for the Modernisation Programme I am optimistic today that we shall deliver effective IT in the civil justice system. More hopeful today than at any time since 2006 when the promise of Electronic Filing and Document Management (EFDM) was so cruelly dashed as Government removed the so-called “ring-fenced” funding for EFDM, a mere ￡60m.

From where springs this optimism? Today, unlike 2006, the triumph that awaits lies within private sector initiatives and LegalTech businesses that offer partnerships with MoJ to deliver effective IT. We did not have those in 2006.

Private-public partnerships have begun to fill the gaps: Thomson Reuters with their C-Track (branded as CE File in the BPC and Rolls Building jurisdictions), Caselines in the criminal justice system, Microsoft SharePoint providing the Document Upload Centre and Kinly for the Cloud Video Platform. There are more partnerships in the pipeline with announcements expected early in 2021.

Nor am I talking about video conferencing; as Sir Geoffrey Vos says, Zoom is Old Hat!

Nor are we stopping once we have replaced physical processes with digital processes.

We have the spectre of the Backlog at our backs. The best form of defence is attack and our chosen weapons are ADR and online delivery of the ADR process. This will complete an incomplete jigsaw of mandatory or de facto compulsory schemes in sectors as diverse as: Family cases involving finance and children, commercial construction, employment claims, disputes relating to Education, Health and Care issues and, most recently, the reactivated possession claims.  

2021 will see the beginning of the Fusion of ADR with civil justice – the kind of reform seen only once before, 146 years ago.  

Concerns about mandatory ADR being less effective than voluntary ADR may safely be put to one side as many countries across the world have shown to great applause. For example, Turkey introduced mandatory ADR for labour disputes in 2018 and found success rates of 70% in its first year of operation. Success begets success and the Turkish approach has gradually rolled out from its origins in labour disputes to commercial and other civil claims.

Take heart and be fleet of foot – the coming changes will Bust the Backlog and benefit all.

It's gonna be a bright (bright)

Bright (bright) sunshiny day.

Thank you Johnny Nash (RIP) for the lyric.