Abstract:

England and Wales, like many other countries, are currently undergoing enormous technology-driven changes to their justice system. These changes, propelled by a £1.3 billion reform package, the online experiences catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and user expectations increasingly set by private online dispute resolution systems such as ebay, vary from basic digitisation to wholesale reconfiguration. Framed around Supporting Online Justice, a research-based design project which created resources for lay users of online court hearings, this talk will consider what these changes mean for lay users of the justice system. It will specifically explore the repercussions for the digitally disadvantaged as well as the specific methodological challenges that emerge when trying to understand the impact of these changes on seldom heard groups. Using Fricker’s (2007) concept of epistemic injustice, it will consider the gaps in understanding left by an absence of user engagement on the part of the court service. Finally, it will conclude by reflecting on the differences in the transition to digital for government in comparison with the private sector.

Bio:

Dr Anna Tsalapatanis is a Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at University College London and was previously a Research Fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford, and a Junior Research Fellow at Worcester College, Oxford. Her research interests include access to justice, digital disadvantage, migration, bureaucracy, and social policy. Anna’s most recent projects include Designing for Inclusion, which involved working with advice sector organisations exploring best practice around inclusion, as well as Supporting Online Justice, a project completed in partnership with HM Courts and Tribunals Service to create research-based guidance for lay users of online hearings. This project was awarded the University of Oxford VC’s Innovation and Engagement Award. Her forthcoming book, In the Public Interest?: Technological Transformation of the Legal System, co-authored with Linda Mulcahy, will be published by Palgrave in 2024.