Groundwork for Assessing the Legal Risks of Cyberjustice

It is clear that the use of information technology is quickly becoming a necessity for the justice system. In civil cases, delays and costs are causing individuals to abandon the courts, and cases that make it to trial are of ever-increasing complexity. Moreover, public security is weakened by the inefficient and cumbersome conditions by which criminal justice information circulates among the various stakeholders, such as the police, prosecutors, the courts, penitentiaries and parole boards, to name only a few. It becomes apparent that information technology has much to offer individuals involved in court cases and the justice system as a whole. We have every reason to think that this change in medium will affect law, in general, and rights, in particular. At the same time, legal systems can clearly be improved by the use of new information and communication technology. These two observations call for reflection on the implications of computerizing and networking the justice system, where the requirements of legal certainty — demanding a prospective study of the risks entailed by the change — will be met. It will also make it possible to guide the way in which computer potential is used in legal proceedings and justice information. To that end, we will sketch out the broad lines of a method for assessing legal and judicial risks flowing from the implementation of cyberjustice systems