From 25 April 2017, the use of electronic filing has been compulsory in the Chancery Division of the High Court, the Commercial Court, the Financial List, the Technology and Construction Court and the Admiralty, Mercantile, Patents, Intellectual Property Enterprise, Bankruptcy and Companies Courts.
Although key documents in most court proceedings are already public, having the documents available online may mean that they are in practice more readily accessible by interested parties and journalists. Courts are beginning to recognise the valuable role that technology can play in the litigation process. In Pyrrho Investments v MWB Property [2016] EWHC 256 (Ch), the Chancery Division approved the use of "predictive coding" in an e-disclosure exercise. In Brown v BCA [2016] EWHC 1464 (Ch), the Court also approved "technology assisted review". This meant that, rather than having numerous lawyers read many millions of documents, a few lawyers could review a small proportion of the potentially relevant documents with predictive coding technology, based on the lawyers' decision-making patterns, guiding a computer review of the remainder of the documents.
Greater Use Of Technology In English Litigation
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
