Improving Access to Justice with Legal Advisory Systems Prepared for Law, Justice, and Development Week 2015 at the World Bank Improving Access to Justice with Legal Advisory Systems L. Karl Branting, J.D., Ph.D. The MITRE Corporation 19 November 2015

Outline Motivation A framework for legal advisory systems Example: the Protection Order Advisor (POA) Lessons learned

Motivation Barriers to access to justice Individualized legal assistance is often unafforable or unavailable Scarcity of information about rights, procedures, and documents Inaccessibility of courts or other forums Formalization of law in computational form can: Provide individualized legal assistance Assist pro se citizens by Informing them about legal rights Guiding them through proceduresto assert those rights Assisting with document drafting

A Framework for Legal Advisory Systems Key system modules Informing user of available forms of legal relief Determining whether user can make a prima facie showing of requirements for legal relief Informing user of procedural requirements for relief Assisting user in drafting petitions or other documents needed to initiate legal action Computational requirements 1 & 4 – instructional or tutorial techniques 2 – logic programming, i.e., inference over formal representation of legal rules and case facts 3 – automated document drafting Well-known computational techniques for all 4 components

Example: The Protection Order Advisor Legal advisory system for pro se protection order applicants Victims of domestic abuse often can’t afford legal assistance In US courts, staff find it distressing that they can’t give advice to domestic abuse victims Implemented with funding from the Idaho Supreme Court Implemented in logic-programming famework Deployed on trial basis in multiple Idaho courthouses in early 2000’s

Opening Screen

Tutorial Screen

Data Elicitation Screen Showing Links to Definitions

Elicitation Screen for More Complex Data

Petition for Proecton Order

Lessons Learned from POA Implementation It is tractable to formalize routine legal rules for prima facie case in computational logic Template-based techniques for document drafting adequate for routine petitions Collecting and organizing self-instruction materials constitutes a large component of implementation Total implementation costs for basic system not exorbitant Design Multilingual interface often necessary, e.g., Spanish and English in many US cities Most useful in settings in which petitioner can get some assistance in using the program, e.g., by domestic violence counselor

Lessons Learned from POA Access – broader availability may require access through Web Cell phones Funding Although development costs are typically low, there is little private sector interest in developing software for impecunious pro se litigators Most cost-effective approach is for relatively simple systems with very broad usage

Summary Technology for building legal advisory systems is well- understood Legal advisory systems Can operate in kiosks, websites, or smartphone apps Address two of the three key obstacles to access to justice Providing individualized legal assistance Helping pro se litigants understand rights and procedures, and assisting with document drafting Represent an inexpensive approach to increasing access to justice

Bibliography L. Karl Branting, An Advisory System for Pro Se Protection Order Applicants, International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 14(3), (2000). L. Karl Branting, Advisory Systems for Pro Se Litigants Proceedings of The Eighth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (ICAIL-2001), May 21-25, 2001, St. Louis, Missouri. Maurits Barendrecht, Legal Aid, Accessible Courts or Legal Information? Three Access to Justice Strategies Compared, Global Jurist, Vol. 11, Issue 1, January 2011