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Australia Commonwealth (Federal) Courts Go OnlineAustralia's Commonwealth law courts have gone hightech with the launch of an on-line system that will allow the public easier access to justice. The new Commonwealth Courts Portal will allow electronic access to the Family, Federal and Federal Magistrates' courts for lawyers and the public using one system. The eCourt portal is a single gateway for access to all services of the courts. It allows any authorised user – such as a lawyer, judge, litigant or journalist – to immediately see a list of their files or files of interest to them. Documents will be able to be lodged and accessed electronically, virtual court cases conducted on line and all of the lead-up steps in a case carried out electronically. Launching the system in the Federal Court in Melbourne Attorney-General Robert McClelland predicted the internet would change the way people viewed courts. He said it would make Commonwealth courts more efficient, cut legal costs and assist lawyers and the public to work their way through cases more quickly. "While open justice has long been a fundamental principle of our legal system, it has been the internet which has really thrown open courts’ doors to the public," Mr McCelland said. "This portal will create a new pathway to access justice. It is the thing that brings our Federal Court system to the cutting edge of technology." Acting Federal Court Chief Justice Peter Gray said the portal was the result of tremendous cooperation between the three courts. He said it would be particularly useful in remote areas where people could have complete access to the courts by sitting at a computer. “The portal will be a platform for the delivery of a range of other integrated eservices including lodging documents and applications on line,” Justice Gray said. "It offers great possibilities for the future. It meets our three goals which are cost effectiveness, user focus and easy access." Chief Federal court Magistrate John Pascoe said access to courts regardless of location was important. “For a court that seeks to provide access to justice to all Australians regardless of their geographic location, the portal will significantly benefit people in rural and regional areas who will no longer have to travel to a registry or engage agents in the city to file their court documents,” Mr Pascoe said. Lawyers, through their firm, will be able to search for information in any of the three courts and view it through a single user ID and password. Court document searching and filing will have a different levels of security and the public will have access through a simple log-on system. Family Court Chief Justice, Diana Bryant, said that in the past the three Commonwealth courts had not shared a common case management system. "Regardless of what jurisdicition you are interested in the Commonwealth courts portal allows access to services via a single log on, a common and easy to use interface and a system that can be used out of hours with simplified billing and accounting for lawyers," she said. |
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