Online Courts and the Future of Justice by Richard Susskind

 Online Courts and the Future of Justice by Richard Susskind sets out the case for the Justice system of England and Wales to introduce online courts to the jurisdiction in the civil law sector. Susskind sets out both the case for and against, explaining why online courts are the best way forward for our justice system and providing a fully holistic plan for how we can introduce online courts to our justice system.

I really liked this book for many reasons. Despite dealing with different areas of the Law, whereas The Secret Barrister sets out how our justice system is in a terrible state with little access to justice, no funding and a significant backlog, Susskind seems to offer solutions to overcome the issues highlighted by The Secret Barrister. Not only this, but Susskind does not leave any part of the argument regarding online courts unanswered in his book and successfully covers most, if not all, areas. Furthermore, this book is written in very clear and understandable language, which makes it perfect for the first-year undergraduate law student.

There is nothing I can really say I dislike about the book itself, although I may suggest that, at times, Susskind's argument for Online courts may go a bit over the top. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel that there are some areas where Online Courts should not be used and should remain in physical courtrooms with in-person judges and Barristers, but Susskind would disagree with me in some cases. However, from my visits to the various criminal courts, I can definitely see how online courts would be very beneficial to some of the cases one may expect to be heard at a magistrates court to help overcome the backlog in the justice system. For instance, hearings for breach of Bail, I may suggest, would be better for online courts so as to save the magistrates courts for in-person criminal hearings. Obviously, this is open to debate, and there may also be a wider scope of cases which may ordinarily be heard at the Magistrates court which may, for purposes of costs and practicality, be better suited to an online court.

Altogether, I rate this book 3 stars as it is a good, easy-to-understand and very persuasive book about why the Justice system of England and Wales should utilise online courts. This is definitely a must-read for any undergraduate law student or anyone who wants a career in the legal profession, especially as a Solicitor or Barrister, as I believe it is inevitable that at some point in the future, at least a small part of the court system will be conducted online. This is something which has already been seen to be the case in areas of law such as Family Law where since the Coronavirus pandemic, many of the family hearings have been taking place online rather than in a physical courtroom.