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On-line access


An increasing variety of on-line (ie dial-up) sources provide computerised
access to primary legal materials. Info-One International contains databases
of case and statute law for all State Courts except the Northern Territory and
Queensland. The Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department SCALE system
provides databases of Commonwealth statutes, High Court,
Federal Court and Family Court cases, South Australian, ACT             [PP25]
and Northern Territory case law, and various other databases.
Info-One and SCALE use a version of the STATUS retrieval system,
a fairly powerful but not very user-friendly retrieval system which
dates from the early 1980s (see Greenleaf, Mowbray and Lewis (1988) Part 2).
Queensland law is to be made available through QLIRS, using The Corporate
Retriever retrieval system.

The Departments responsible for court administration in South Australia and
Western Australia have provided access to their own databases of State
statutes to courts and other government users connected to their government
networks. Case law is also provided by the South Australian Department, but in
Western Australia it is the Supreme court that maintains a database of
unrported judgemnts. The use of the TITAN software (in Western Australia) and
the JURIS system (in South Australia) for these purposes is detailed in
Chapter 3. Dial-up access by the legal profession and other external users is
under consideration in both States. Of particular relevance to criminal
trials, the NSW Judicial Commission is also developing an on-line system for
the judiciary concerning appeal cases, sentencing principles, legislation and
other materials relevant to NSW sentencing law, as modules of its Sentencing
Information System (discussed below).

The hopes expressed in the Reports by Lindgren (1990) for the development of a
national system which will provide a uniform method of access for the
judiciary to all State and Federal primary materials show only limited signs
of being fulfilled. In many cases, the best method of accessing necessary
legal source will be through a mixture of CD-ROM and on-line services.


Computerised dissemination of judgments by courts


A North American development which has not yet occurred in Australia is the
electronic dissemination of judgments by the courts. The Technology
Enhancement Office of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts
(see Chapter 3) has since 1989 assisted all US Circuit courts to operate a
free bulletin board system called ACES (Appellate Court Electronic Services)
or EDOS (Electronic Dissemination of Opinions System) from which members of
the public view and download published opinions, court rules etc
(Administrative Office (1992a)). The US Supreme Court also disseminates all
its opinions electonically via intermediaries such as Universities (Project
Hermes). Electronic dissemination in Canada is discussed in Franson and Lyons
(1990). The South Australian and Western Australian systems mentioned above
have the potential to develop electronic dissemination. At present in South
Australia, judgments are distributed monthly on floppy disk to SCALE, Info-One
and the South Australian Law Society (which has the right to market them in an
electronic format).


Access to 'Bench books'


In the systems development plans of both the Western Australian court
administration and the New South Wales Judicial Commission, it is intended
that the 'Bench Book' or 'Judges Book' concerning procedure in criminal
matters should be available in computerised form. In South Australia the
Magistrate's Bench Book is incorporated into JURIS, as are summing up
precedents for higher courts. Rules of Court are being added.



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