The committee charged with overseeing the creation of the holistic online dispute resolution service sketched out by the master of the rolls over the past two years will meet for the first time on 26 June, the government revealed today. It announced that the committee’s members will include specialist solicitor Brett Dixon, Law Society Council member for personal injury, as well as members of the senior judiciary.
The Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC) is being constituted under the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022. It will oversee the development of rules for online proceedings across the Civil, Family and Tribunals jurisdictions, as well as data and behavioural standards for online dispute resolution before proceedings are brought to a court or tribunal. It will have a key role in the creation of the ‘funnel’ of online dispute resolution services envisaged by the master of the rolls.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, will chair the OPRC, said the committee 'will provide the necessary governance for the digital justice system as it develops'. Appearing before the House of Commons justice committee last week, he said that the online committee would generate rules at a higher level to those of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee as most detailed procedures would be set by the systems themselves. However the committee will also be responsible for technical and data governance, ensuring that the mix of private and public sector dispute resolution systems envisaged in the ‘funnel’ adhere to the same standards.
According to today’s announcement, the OPRC will have members, including the judicial heads of the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions. The non judicial members are Dixon, Sarah Stephens, named as an expert in the lay advice sector, and Gerard Boyers, technology expert.
Justice minister Lord Bellamy (Christopher Bellamy KC) said: 'It is vital that digital court processes are governed by rules more suited to evolving technologies, and the creation of this committee secures the government’s longstanding commitment to leading the way in making this a reality.'
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