E-Justice in Bulgaria Bogdan Petrov, Esq. CLICT Co-Founder & Expert Legal Informatics & E-Governance as tools for the Knowledge Society LEFIS Seminar, Reykjavik, July 12-13, 2007 E-Justice in Bulgaria Bogdan Petrov, Esq. CLICT Co-Founder & Expert
Definition E-Justice – any service providing information in electronic format related to a process in the Judiciary; electronic exchange of judiciary information via telecommunications networks.
Examples Internet-based services providing information to the public or supporting data exchange between citizens and judiciary organizations); Internet-based services for information exchange between organizations; Intranet-based services supporting procedures within an organization (e.g. workflow systems); Services supporting “legal communications” (e.g. secure e-mail services implementing digital signatures); Services for digital audio and video communications (e.g. systems recording or/and broadcasting court hearings, remote surveillance and remote interrogation systems).
The Strategy Legal framework (i.e. rules forming legal basis for each service provided); Technical arrangements (architecture, infrastructure, applied technologies, etc.); Operation plans (manpower, training, maintenance, procedures, etc.).
Principles Transparency: enhancing visibility in justice and public administration, strengthening trust between the Judiciary and the public; Accessibility: allowing people to access fast and reliably the information they need; Usability: providing tools that are useful and easy-to-use; Quality of service: fighting bureaucracy and long queues; Usefulness: addressing real everyday needs of the public and businesses; Completeness: all the services provided from one place (one-stop shop).
Legal Grounds Aqui communitaire as of 2002; E-Signatures and E-Documents Act; E-Commerce Act; E-Communications Act; Implementing rules and regulations.
What Already Exists Court Case Management System (CCMS); Conviction Status Certificate System (CSCS); Bankruptcy Proceedings System (BPS); Unified Register System (URS); Legal Aid System; Enforcement of Judgments System; Mediators Register; Unified Information System to Counter Crime (UISCC); Bulgarian Citizenship Register; Commercial Register; BULSTAT Register; Property Register; Particular Pledge Register; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Register; Political Parties Register; Judicial Statistics System.
Problems Legal: lack of special material law, no procedural value of electronic documents; Technical: interoperability of systems created by different operators for different purposes; Operational: poor financing, bureaucracy, computer illiteracy.
The Future The front end: The E-Justice Web Portal; Automated case management; Secure video communications/interrogations; E-documents universal acceptance; B2B applications for legal professionals (prosecutors, notaries, bailiffs, etc.); Ideally – a paperless national justice system!
Thank you! Any questions? bogdan.petrov@clict.net