Keynote - Hon. Madame Justice Frances Kiteley

Hon. Madame Justice Frances Kiteley is co-chair of the Canadian Centre for Court Technology and member of the Ontariou Superior Court of Justice

Madame Justice Kiteley's speaking points:

• Justice sector still stuck in dark ages while ODR proponents looking at new ways of doing things.
• Courts live in the past. Jurisprudence moves with glacial pace.
• Rule of law built on predictability. Sudden change does not exist in justice system.
• 99% of docs created digitally -> then printed -> scanned and emailed around
• Courts don't treat users like customers.
• Cross-border commercial disputes now requiring judges to also communicate across borders!
• Courts other than in Canada are doing much better. Americans are way ahead. Singapore has continued to lead.
• Courts were once dispute resolution method of choice. Now, they are dispute resolution method of last resort.

• Can we enhance access to justice through technology?
• What about business, employment and family disputes in ODR?
• Norm is to have multi-issue, multi-party and multi-jurisdictional disputes. E.g. family law will involve custody, access, support issues.
• Unbundling: opportunity to deal with child support issues based on income of parties, guidelines. But, what about issue of surpression of income by one party?
• People spend more money on court applications in child disputes than they might spend on university education for them.
• Enable parents to go online to resolve disputes without having to take time off work or deal with stress of showing up in court.
• Uncontested divorce applications: online application to reduce amount of handling that judges can review online, send back requests for amendment and approve.
• Self-represented litigants: some by necessity and some by choice. Both are motivated to find a resolution. Can we level playing field?
• Case management: conduct conferences online without having to attend in court.
• The status quo requires transparency - disputes must be heard in open court. BUT why are we so committed to adjudicating disputes in open court?
• Is quality of justice in person comparable to quality of justice online?
• Why continue to build courthouses that fail to respond to people's needs?
• ODR will create parallel justice system.