Access to justice in times of technological acceleration

Preface V
List of abbreviations XVII

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Possible problems with access to justice 1
1.2 Rise of legal tech and its potential application to civil justice 8
1.3 Limitations of the research 10
1.3.1 Limitation of access to justice in civil justice 10
1.3.2 Territorial limitation 12
1.3.3 Limitation of the considered types of civil proceedings 14
1.3.3.1 Justifi cation of the limitation 14
1.3.3.2 Introductory remarks on the procedural pathways to enforce monetary claims in German and Dutch courts 17
1.3.4 Limitation of the considered types of litigants 20
1.4 Main research question 23
1.5 Sub-questions 24
1.5.1 Theoretical foundation of access to justice 24
1.5.2 Analysis of positive law using the theoretical access to justice approaches 24
1.5.3. Access to justice reality regarding German and Dutch judicial debt collection 25
1.5.4 Digitalization of civil justice in Germany and the Netherlands with particular attention to judicial debt collection procedures 26
1.5.5 Possible interplay between digitalization of judicial debt collection and access to justice 26
1.5.6 The impact of more far-reaching approaches to the digitalization of monetary claim enforcement on access to justice 27
1.6 Structure of the thesis 27
1.7 Methodology 34
1.8 Summary of aspects that are not discussed in this dissertation 37

Chapter 2 Access to justice theory 39
2.1 Introduction 392.2 Access to justice defi nitions and linguistic classifi cation of related terminology 40
2.2.1 Access to court 40
2.2.2 Access to a fair and just solution of a dispute 42
2.2.3 Access to law 44
2.2.4 German and Dutch terminology 44
2.2.5 Interim summary 45
2.3 Origins and development of access to justice 46
2.3.1 First developments in medieval Europe 46
2.3.2 Access to justice understanding in the 18th and 19th century 48
2.3.3 Changing understanding due to human rights codification 49
2.3.4 Access to justice movement 50
2.3.5 Access to justice today 50
2.4 Analysis of selected theories on access to justice 51
2.4.1 Cappelletti et al: The Florence Access to Justice project (1973-1978) 51
2.4.2 Francioni et al: Access to Justice as a Human Right (2007) 54
2.4.3 Rhode: Access to Justice (2004) 55
2.4.4 Intermezzo: access to justice from the perspective of critical legal studies 56
2.5 Elaboration of a working formula on access to justice 57
2.5.1 Limitation 1: Access to justice in adjudication or ADR? 57
2.5.2 Limitation 2: Focus on “access to the legal system” or “procedural justice and just outcomes”? 58
2.5.3 Working formula 60

Chapter 3 Access to justice in positive law 61
3.1 Introduction 61
3.2 Identifi cation of access to justice related norms of positive law 62
3.2.1 Legislation addressing access to court 62
3.2.2 Legislation addressing the social implications of adjudication 64
3.3 Access to justice in German law 65
3.3.1 Rechtsschutzgarantie and allgemeiner Justizgewährungsanspruch 65
3.3.2 Procedural justice safeguards of the allgemeiner Justizgewährungsanspruch 68
3.3.2.1 Right to be heard 68
3.3.2.2 Right to a fair trial 69
3.3.2.3 Equality of arms 69
3.3.3 Aspects of German national law addressing the social objective of access to justice 70
3.3.3.1 Costs of civil proceedings 70
3.3.3.2 Duration of civil proceedings 71
3.3.3.3 Legal aid 72
3.3.3.4 Gleichheitssatz and Diskriminierungsverbot 73
3.4 Access to justice in Dutch law 74
3.4.1 Access to court 74
3.4.2 Procedural justice safeguards of Article 19 Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering 77
3.4.3 Aspects of Dutch national law addressing the social objective of access to justice 77
3.4.3.1 Costs of civil proceedings 78
3.4.3.2 Duration of civil proceedings 80
3.4.3.3 Legal aid 80
3.4.3.4 Gelijkheidsbeginsel and verbod van discriminatie 82
3.5 Access to justice in the ECHR and the CFR 83
3.5.1 Background and objective of the ECHR and CFR 83
3.5.2 Access to justice in the ECHR 85
3.5.3 Access to justice in the CFR 91
3.6 Summary and answer to the second sub-question 96

Chapter 4 Legal tech and its possible application to state civil justice 101
4.1 Digitalization of legal practice 101
4.2 Emergence of digital technologies in legal practice: a brief historical overview 103
4.2.1 Personal computers and electronic data processing 104
4.2.2 Big Data and modern telecommunication 104
4.2.3 AI and automation 105
4.3 Legal tech: digital transformation of legal practice 106
4.3.1 Defi nitions 106
4.3.2 Some features of the legal tech movement 108
4.3.3 Potential of access to justice improvement by increasing effi ciency and replacement of human labor 110
4.3.4 Interim result: What is legal tech? 111
4.3.5 Stages of development: Legal tech 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 112
4.3.6 Taxonomy of legal tech 113
4.3.6.1 Legal research 113
4.3.6.2 Legal analytics and document review 114
4.3.6.3 Legal design 114
4.3.6.4 Online services and advice 115
4.3.6.5 Contract drafting and automation 115
4.3.6.6 ODR 116
4.4 Use of legal tech in state civil justice 117
4.4.1 Introductory remarks 117
4.4.2 Approaches and terminology: automation versus transformation 117
4.4.3 ODR as a possible way of transforming state civil justice 118
4.4.3.1 Defi nitions of ODR 118
4.4.3.2 ADR movement 119
4.4.3.3 Background and rationale of ODR 121
4.4.3.4 Three categories of ODR 123
4.4.3.5 Role of ODR in the dispute resolution process: third versus fourth party 124
4.4.3.6 Private sector ODR in practice: two examples 124
4.4.3.7 From private to public: Online courts 126
4.4.4 Ways to digitalize traditional civil procedures 127
4.4.4.1 Physical courtroom versus virtual hearing 127
4.4.4.2 Electronic fi ling of procedural documents 130
4.4.4.3 Online interfaces, digital portals and legal guidance systems 131
4.5 Conclusion 132

Chapter 5 Access to justice reality of judicial debt collection procedures in Germany and the Netherlands 133
5.1 Introduction 133
5.1.1 Scientifi c uncertainty regarding access to justice reality 133
5.1.2 Declining numbers of judicial debt collection procedures in Germany and the Netherlands 135
5.2 Procedural rules and practice of judicial debt collection in Germany and the Netherlands 136
5.2.1 Gerichtliches Mahnverfahren 136
5.2.2 Klageverfahren at the Amtsgericht 141
5.2.3 Dagvaardingsprocedure at the kantonrechter 145
5.2.4 Comparison of judicial debt collection in Germany and the Netherlands 151
5.3 Reasons for the declining numbers of judicial debt collections proceedings 154
5.4 Analysis of the possible reasons for the declining numbers of civil cases at German and Dutch courts in general and judicial debt collection procedures in particular 159
5.4.1 Fewer confl icts that arise in society 159
5.4.2 Declining trust in the judiciary 161
5.4.3 Duration of proceedings 163
5.4.4 Costs of proceedings 168
5.4.4.1 Costs associated with a Mahnverfahren 168
5.4.4.2 Costs associated with a Klageverfahren at the Amtsgericht 169
5.4.4.3 Costs associated with a dagvaardingsprocedures at the kantonrechter 171
5.4.4.4 Infl uence of procedural costs on the declining popularity of judicial debt collection 173
5.4.5 Resort to ADR 179
5.4.5.1 Situation in Germany 179
5.4.5.2 Situation in the Netherlands 181
5.4.5.3 Interim summary 189
5.4.6 Poor public relations and media appearance of courts 190
5.4.7 Impact of the ex offi cio review of EU consumer law 192
5.4.8 Decreasing numbers of national judicial debt collections due to an increased number of cross-border judicial debt collections 196
5.4.9 Infl uence of a changed culture of entrepreneurial activity focused on dispute prevention 199
5.4.10 Infl uence of cognitive biases when deciding whether or not to go to court 201
5.4.11 Infl uence of the general economic situation on the willingness to go to court 202
5.4.12 Examination of the fi nancial situation of the debtor before enforcing a monetary claim 206
5.4.13 Interim summary 211
5.5 Analysis of potential access to justice problems 213
5.5.1 Theoretical access to judicial debt collection in Germany and the Netherlands 213
5.5.2 Absence of an order for payment procedure in the Netherlands/necessity to submit a dagvaarding to collect monetary claims 214
5.5.3 Costs of proceedings as fi nancial hurdles that make it difficult or impossible to use the system of court adjudication 218
5.5.4 Problematic court fees for some judicial debt collection cases 219
5.5.5 Fees for the services of procedural documents by bailiffs 221
5.5.6 Need to support one-shotters without doenvermogen (cannots) 223
5.5.7 Psychological hurdle due to expected duration of proceedings 227
5.5.8 Conclusion 228

Chapter 6 Digitalization of civil justice and judicial debt collection procedures in Germany and the Netherlands 231
6.1 Introduction 231
6.2 Digitalization of judicial debt collection and civil justice in Germany and the Netherlands 232
6.2.1 Implementation of technology within the Mahnverfahren and the German civil justice system: past, status quo and future prospective 232
6.2.1.1 Automation des Mahnverfahrens-study 232
6.2.1.2 Automated Mahnverfahren in the 1980s 233
6.2.1.3 Mahnverfahren through remote data transmission 237
6.2.1.4 Electronic signature in German law and the formal requirements to submit the Mahnantrag 238
6.2.1.5 Profi Mahn 243
6.2.1.6 Online-Mahnantrag 244
6.2.1.7 Future digitalization plans and recommendations of the Arbeitsgruppe Modernisierung des Zivilprozesses 246
6.2.1.8 Elektronisches Bürger- und Organisationenpostfach and pilot project Mein Justizpostfach 252
6.2.1.9 Pilot project Digitales Vorverfahren 255
6.2.1.10 Pilots concerning cutting-edge technology 257
6.2.1.11 Interim conclusion: State of digitalization in German civil justice, especially concerning Mahnverfahren 259
6.2.2 Implementation of technology within the Dutch civil justice system: past, status quo and future prospective 261
6.2.2.1 First recommendations by the commissie fundamentele herbezinning Nederlands burgerlijk procesrecht and the Raad voor de Rechtspraak 261
6.2.2.2 E-kantonrechter pilot 263
6.2.2.3 KEI project 264
6.2.2.4 DT project 268
6.2.2.5 Interim conclusion: State of digitalization in Dutch civil justice, especially concerning dagvaardingsprocedures 270
6.3 Comparison of the degree of digitalization of judicial debt collection and civil justice in Germany and the Netherlands and conclusion 271

Chapter 7 Possible interplay between digitalization of German and Dutch judicial debt collection procedures and access to justice 275
7.1 Introduction 275
7.2 Possible impact of the digitalization of proceedings on access to justice 277
7.2.1 Possible impact of digitalization on procedural costs and overall cost risk of adjudication 277
7.2.1.1 Connection between costs arising at the court for internal processing of cases and the court fees 278
7.2.1.2 Possible effects of the digitalization of contentious judicial debt collection procedures and procedural costs 283
7.2.1.3 Potential cost savings through the use of AI assistance systems supporting judges 287
7.2.1.4 Cost reduction through empowerment of one-shotters 292
7.2.1.5 Using technology to serve procedural documents in Dutch judicial debt collection 295
7.2.1.6 Inspiration for access to justice improvement by looking at consumer-oriented legal tech platforms 296
7.2.2 Impact of digitalization on the length of proceedings 299
7.2.3 Digitalization as possible antidote to the overload of German and Dutch courts 300
7.2.4 Digitalization as a secondary priority from an access to justice perspective 302
7.2.5 Need for digital solutions in courts that are functional and user-friendly 303
7.2.6 New access to justice problems due to the “digital divide” 308
7.2.7 Effects of digitalization for the defendant 314
7.3 Conclusion 317

Chapter 8 Monetary claim adjudication in online courts: an overview of the international landscape and a detailed review of the Civil Resolution Tribunal 321
8.1 Introduction 321
8.2 Overview of the international civil online court landscape 324
8.2.1 Denmark: Minretssag 324
8.2.2 China: Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou Internet Court 326
8.2.3 U.S: New York State Civil Court Small Claims ODR platform 328
8.2.4 Interim summary 330
8.3 Review of the CRT and the implications of the online court for access to justice in British Columbia 330
8.3.1 Genesis and establishment of the CRT 330
8.3.2 Position of the CRT in the Canadian justice system 333
8.3.3 Procedural practice at the CRT 334
8.3.4 Figures on the practical performance of the CRT 337
8.3.4.1 Utilization of the CRT procedure 338
8.3.4.2 Costs of the CRT procedure for litigants 340
8.3.4.3 Duration of proceedings at the CRT 341
8.3.4.5 CRT revenues and expenses 342
8.3.4.6 User satisfaction of the CRT 342
8.3.5 Impact of the CRT on access to justice 344
8.3.5.1 Costs of procedures 345
8.3.5.2 Duration of procedures 347
8.3.5.3 Development of numbers of monetary claim procedures in British Columbia since the introduction of the CRT 348
8.3.5.4 Impact of the CRT on digitally vulnerable groups 349
8.3.5.5 User-friendliness and fl exibility 351
8.4 Conclusion 352

Chapter 9 Conclusions 357
9.1 General conclusions 357
9.2 Possible avenues of further research 370

Bibliography 373
Annex 451
Zusammenfassung der Forschungsergebnisse 467
Samenvatting van de onderzoeksresultaten 485
Curriculum vitae 501
Curriculum vitae 503
Acknowledgements 505
Serie Onderneming en Recht 511