Maxim Ali has given an assessment of the beta online justice service for Advokatskaya Gazeta

Maxim Ali - Partner

At the end of August, a beta online justice service appeared on the ESIA’s State Services website. It is planned that the service will perform several functions at once, including the automatic listing of cases, sending documents and electronic notifications to the parties as well as offering a 30% discount on court fees. The service will also offer the possibility of “remote participation” in proceedings – allowing parties to access proceedings through biometric identification. However, it is not clear what exactly will be offered, whether remote exchange of documents with the court or direct online participation in hearings.

For Advokatskaya Gazeta, Head of the IP/IT Practice Head, Maxim Ali, reviewed the service and commented on its functionality for Advokatskaya Gazeta.

Maxim called one of the most interesting innovations online access to the case file. He noted that today the process of reviewing documents in court is “organised archaically”, especially in general jurisdictions. “Obtaining photocopies can take all day, not to mention the delays associated with the inaccessibility of the case and restrictions on the opening hours of courts. In addition, often there is a need to familiarise yourself with the case materials located in a remote region of the country”, Maxim explained to the publication.

At the same time, Maxim noted that there is nothing revolutionary in this innovation. “Similar proposals came from the Supreme Commercial Court, which was abolished in 2014, which seriously advanced the e-justice system. They were partially implemented; now you can get online access to the materials of commercial cases for cases considered in the simplified procedure”, said Maxim.

Maxim also noted that the lack of resistance from the courts is extremely important for the implementation of the plan. He explained that courts of general jurisdiction did not take to digitalisation with much enthusiasm, according to him, now they are extremely reluctant to allow parties to proceedings to exercise their right to participate remotely in hearings by the video conferencing system, citing a “lack of technical ability.”

Maxim Ali welcomed the introduction of electronic notifications. “In light of delays in the Russian Post and the short-term storage of judicial notices in the mail (7 days), the electronic notification system is a logical decision. If in electronic form the parties receive copies of each other’s documents, this will also speed up and simplify the consideration of many cases”, he commented. At the same time, the concept of the system’s development strategy raised questions: “The most important of them: why does the state create a number of e-justice services instead of combining them, at least from a user point of view, into one system?”

In particular, Maxim Ali believes that the “File cabinet of arbitration cases” developed at the Higher Arbitration Court is functioning quite well. “This tool is highly appreciated by lawyers and is used to alert, obtain information about cases, for electronic document management with the court. At the same time, the ability to use this system without an enhanced qualified electronic signature or biometric data (as suggested by the State Service) allows using the Ring Road to a wide range of individuals and does not lead to large-scale abuses” said Maxim.

He believes that today in Russia there are no services equal to the Ring Road. Maxim Ali regretted that the state continues to invest in the development of separate services for courts of general jurisdiction, which “leave much to be desired.” Many courts still offer to send documents by e-mail. Among the individual services, the lawyer noted the portals of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow and the portal of magistrates of St. Petersburg.
Maxim Ali drew attention to the “strange schedule” of the development of the new online justice system. “The first stage is dated 2020, when the system for determining jurisdiction will work. However, you can find a competent court online right now. It is hoped that this system will include truly innovative and new features”, he said.

“Today there are many different official websites related to the judicial system, but the quality of work of most of them remains unsatisfactory. The attempt to make new services through state services looks like another breeding of entities in the field of e-justice”. Maxim believes that it would be better to take into account the positive experience of the commercial courts and extend it to the courts of general jurisdiction.

To read the article in full (in Russian), please see the Advokatskaya Gazeta’s website >>>