Supreme Court holds a paper-less trial
Trial management
The Justices of the Supreme Court have taken part in a paper-saving “test case” that could eventually see more than 1.25 million sheets of paper saved every year.
Sitting as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, they heard a five-day multi-million dollar damages’ claim that would normally have required up to 100,000 printed sheets of paper. Instead the court used an electronic system for sharing documents, and counsel and Justices navigated their way through a file of more than 18,000 pages. A monitor was controlled by a member of the relevant solicitors’ team, to display the page to which the advocate was referring.
Lord Kerr said: “Cases before the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council customarily generate a considerable amount of written material.
“The increasing use of technology will not only reduce the volume of papers but will lead to a more focused and economical presentation of appeals. It will be some time, of course, before all appeals are presented by using computers but a good start has been made.”
