New routes to justice: Richard Susskind and Susan Acland-Hood discuss reform of courts & tribunals
In our first reform podcast, Susan Acland-Hood and Richard Susskind reflect on digital courts and the progress of the reform programme.
Our £1bn reform programme will transform the way justice is delivered to make it easier and quicker for people to access our services. Over 100,000 people have now used digital services to apply for probate, divorce or make an online civil money claim.
To mark this milestone, Richard Goodman, HMCTS Change Director hosted an in-conversation session between the organisation’s Chief Executive Susan Acland-Hood and legal academic Professor Richard Susskind.
During the recorded session, which you can listen to as a podcast, the conversation covered the future for digital courts, looked back at the recent international forum on online courts which Susan and Professor Susskind co-hosted, and considered how the HMCTS reform programme has so far applied its guiding principle – to build a justice system that places people at its heart.
Speaking during the conversation, Susan commented:
It’s really important that we offer people different routes to justice for different types of problem – thinking about this from a human being’s point of view means working out what’s going to work best for people in different circumstances.
Professor Susskind added:
All of us have an opportunity to make the most of technology – not to neglect the human element – but to wonder whether there may be different and better ways of complementing traditional service.