An area of law that hits close to home is family law, which focuses on family-related cases such as adoption, divorce, child custody and more.

Family law often has added complexity due to the emotional relationships between parties and the involvement of minors, who need protection for their well-being.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries reported an increase in domestic violence incidents and a surge in orphaned children. Demand for legal services increased to address domestic abuse cases.

As courts were restricted from operating physically to curb the pandemic, family courts all over the world quickly made the shift to remote hearings – a sign of things to come for the role of technology in family courts.

A key learning from the pandemic is that the family court must continue to function in spite of crises to protect vulnerable parties.

Looking ahead, family courts globally will continue to digitalise as the benefits of a digital court can no longer be ignored.

A digital family court, empowered by Chrysalis eJudiciary, for instance, includes features such as e-filing, remote hearings, online judgments and end-to-end court case management.

These digital services allow actions to continue in court and the administration of disputes to be done anywhere, anytime.

Apart from continuity, a digital family court has the following crucial benefits that enable it to better administer justice in a post-pandemic world.

Flexible, Accessible

Case studies have shown that the convenience and accessibility of remote hearings have increased litigants’ show-up rates in family courts and reduced no-shows.

By accessing a hearing via video conference, litigants do not need to miss an entire day’s work, spend money to travel to the courts, make special family arrangements such as securing childcare or wait at the physical courts for their court proceedings.

Remote hearings are one of the most essential ways courts can greatly improve people’s access to justice. They are also less intimidating for parties in acrimonious divorces or for minors who have suffered greatly from domestic abuse cases.

In addition, by expanding online legal services to include e-filing of cases, users can follow up with court proceedings anywhere, anytime and with any device. This accessibility can be particularly assuring for certain individuals, such as those urgently seeking protection order.

Administrative Efficiency

Family courts have to perform many administrative duties, and for years, legal professionals have sought to reduce their administrative burdens to focus on justice.

Going digital reduces this burden by automating tasks. For example, Chrysalis eJudiciary has features to carry out the collection of alimony and maintenance payments automatically and systematically from parties.

A digital family court can also help to expedite justice work across different government agencies. For example, it can notify the Children’s Commissioner for cases involving children and get their timely involvement.

Simple, Cost-effective

When it comes to making justice accessible, two key factors remain pertinent to those requiring it: justice has to be affordable and administratively uncomplicated.

Many have sought to resolve issues in the family courts without lawyers, as they have the perception that legal fees are excessive in relation to the potential outcome.

In fact, the costs of legal representation have indeed risen. The trend is that family courts will begin to see more and more parties representing themselves (litigants-in-person).

A digital family court with an online case filing system can support the needs of both litigants-in-person and lawyers, so that they complete the case process efficiently and effectively.

Such a system streamlines the legal process and provides automated step-by-step guidance, especially to litigants-in-person. All parties can also easily access the same set of case documents online, and these digital documents are made searchable for them to find specific information.

By harmonising these tasks and simplifying procedures, a digital family court reduces manpower and costs.

Covid-19 has changed the role of technology in family courts the world over and the administration of justice forever.

Still, the courts are human-driven institutions. Empathy, analysis and balancing competing interests are still very human abilities needed in family courts.

What a digital family court does is utilise technology to provide operational support through a complete court case management system, enable efficient collaboration, automate routine tasks and make justice more affordable – and hence accessible – to those who need it.

In the post-pandemic world, a digital family court is not a substitute for legal professionals but a partner, with the shared goal of effective justice administration.