ICT FOR JUSTICE

"Publicity is the very soul of justice. ...........

It keeps the judge, while trying, under trial.”

Jeremy Bentham

Transparency International's 2007 'Global Corruption Report – Corruption in Legal Systems' recommended that four key problem areas need to be addressed to combat corruption in legal systems: judicial appointments, terms and conditions, accountability and discipline, and transparency.

It called for:

1. Objective and socially-transparent appointment processes to ensure the most competent candidates of high integrity are appointed as judges.
2. Judicial salaries to be seen to be commensurate with position, experience, performance and professional development; that judicial transfers and case assignment should be based on objective criteria that do not cater to vested interests; and that there should be public access to information about the training of judges throughout their careers.
3. Complaints against judges, who must give reasons for their decisions, to be made public; that any removal process for judges must be fair and transparent; and that judicial codes of conduct and any whistleblower policy should also be openly publicised.
4. The publication of annual reports on judicial activities and spending; reliable public access to information pertaining to laws, proposed changes in legislation, and such matters as court procedures and judgements.
5. Periodic public asset and conflict of interest disclosure in relation to judges, the wide dissemination of information about due process rights, and civil society engagement, research, monitoring and reporting.

Public exposure is an integral part of nearly every one of these recommendations.

Today, with the advent of Web 2.0, which allows for user-centred design, interactive information sharing, interoperability and collaboration on the World Wide Web, it is possible from anywhere with an internet connection to upload case documents, evidential and in-custody photographs and videos of court proceedings; to request case reviews by eminent lawyers; to connect to sites offering case records, legal archives, reports and analysis; to search data against police, prosecutors and judges using key words; track the careers of legal system officials; post details of court hearings online and promote greater public awareness of legal proceedings.

Furthermore, the social networking that such a site also makes possible has the potential to strengthen pro-justice communities and networks of NGOs through such means as moderated fora, listservers, bulletins, online letters/petitions, advice columns and comment.

While online data may be at risk of being hacked into, unlike the press and, to a large extent, radio and television, the internet has the advantage of not being constrained by national boundaries and is, therefore, less vulnerable to threats from within weak legal system jurisdictions aimed at maintaining the status quo, and is able to make available a wealth of detail to boot. Exposure of this type could significantly help improve the likelihood of justice being done.

OpenTrial is working to set up such sites for countries around the world and populate them with appropriate data.