Digital Technology and Procedural Justice: Towards a Geography of Justice

Dispute resolution in the hands of courts has long been criticised as problematic. Digital technology and innovation are changing dispute resolution, and this has an impact on procedural justice. This paper scrutinises how technology (tech) is responding to the criticism of traditional court proceedings (e.g. complexity, high costs) and the new challenges tech brings with it. The analysis looks at five key tech interventions: the digitisation of civil procedures, digital procedural tools, platform-based online dispute resolution (ODR), blockchain-enabled ODR, and the emerging use of artificial intelligence in decision-making. For each proposed tech development, the analysis considers the potential advantages they bring to tackle traditional justice problems as improved access, cost reduction, and speed of proceedings, as well as new criticisms, such as reduced transparency, hidden influences, insufficient or overfiltering, diminished opportunities for in-person hearings, and the risk of reinforcing power imbalances. Framing the discussion within the context of procedural justice, drawing on Art. 6 ECHR standards and social science perspectives on what parties are looking for in dispute procedures, the paper argues for a flexible access to justice approach and system-wide ‘geography of justice’. This framework envisions a pluralistic dispute resolution landscape that carefully balances technological efficiency with the imperative to uphold fundamental rights and ensure fair outcomes for parties.