e, and the principal liaison between government and the rest of the population with respect to eBusiness/eCommerce and the like had just resigned. None of this bodes particularly well for government or Mr. Blair.
According to one source (McAuliffe, 2001), the government has set aside some รบ43m to revamp a number of the 222 county courts in Great Britain. The plan is to create a system of "virtual courts" that will augment the "Victorian" system presently in place within the UK. In this way, litigants will be able to (theoretically) sue each other over the Internet and judges can deal with small claims issues by means of email. Taking this to the next logical conclusion, one must ask how much longer will the Civil Service be necessary in the UK, being potentially replaced by the Internet.
It is intended that most of the 222 county courts will be retrofitted such that use will be made of the Internet, email, and digital TV to ensure an easier and more widespread use of small claims and other transactions, including a 24-hour information service about cases and or court procedures. The vision is to obtain a reduction in the amount of time litigants and other associated parties will have to spend in court, as well as creating somewhat of a paperless environment. The target implementation period is within the next three years.
As intimated above, the progress on this initiative appears stalled in the development of planning, funding, and credibility. This is not bad since, from the experience on very large-scale corporate and governmental systems in the United States, and the general propensity of IT projects to fail, it is wise that the British are proceeding with caution.
As an example of some of the progress that is being made (see Courtroom of the Future, 2001), the Courtroom of the Future Project represents a working group that intends to provide a test bed for the use of technology in the courts. In this way it...