Today's Daily Telegraph (a quality UK broadsheet newspaper) carries a
*potentially* disturbing report describing a new service, "Money Claim
Online", whereby individuals and law firms (solicitors) can issue most
simple legal proceedings (where a sum less than UK pounds 100,000 is
claimed, = USD 140K)) and enforce judgments via a Web browser. The new
service has been set up without publicity by the Lord Chancellor's
Department, which runs the courts system in England and Wales. It seems
that the system is accessible to the public now, although it has not been
officially launched.
People using the service are (oddly) referred to as "customers" .... and
there is a Customer Help Desk ...
The newspaper report is also viewable at this Daily Telegraph link on-line:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/01/26/nsue26.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/01/26/ixhome.html
The service can be seen on-line at:
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco/index.html
No details are apparent of what measures are taken to validate the identity
of the claiming party or prevent other gross miscarriages of justice ....
but it would appear that the potential exists for significant trouble ....
even though the site warns that "vexatious litigants" are not allowed to us
it (these are people who have abused the litigation system in the past to
such an extent that they have been declared "vexatious litigants",
restricting their ability freely to issue legal proceedings).
PS: I am a lawyer myself, although I don't practise in this area .. but do
work in-house for a large IT company ... these comments are offered purely
in a personal capacity.
Tony Ford, Guildford, Surrey, UK [Tony Ford via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 89]
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