使听证会更有成效

Digital strategies for amodern OAH Offices of administrative hearings (OAHs) facethe twin challenges of case backlogs and workingremotely. Streamlining evidence management can The need for a moreproductive process Even before the pandemic, offices of administrativehearings (OAHs) were facing case backlogs. The problemwas exacerbated when COVID-19 forced many to shut Unlike traditional courthouses, OAHs already had themindset that justice doesn’t have to happen at a fixedplace. Many could continue hearings online, embracingvideoconferencing and electronic file technology. But these Here, we explore six common problems OAHs face todayand outline approaches to overcoming them. We hope this guide inspires you to build on the role of digitaltechnology in your jurisdiction. For more information or toarrange a demo, please visit theDigital Evidence Center. “Arizona prides itself on being on the cutting edgeof innovation within the courts. The engagementwith Thomson Reuters will help us manage thebacklog of cases in the court system, better manage Dave ByersDirector of the Administrative Office of the Arizona Courts Better ways tomanage evidence “The Digital Evidence Center has completely transformedthe ways in which I work. It has undoubtedly made meconsiderably more efficient and it has meant that I have It is a practical, easy-to-use tool, which gives youeverything you had before and a very considerable Lord Justice FulfordVice-President of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division),England and Wales Better ways to manage evidence The cost of running an OAH forces them to find efficiencies in every process.Electronic methods have been widespread in evidence management foryears, but these are far from standardized, which is where problems arise. Thomson Reuters® Digital Evidence Centersteps beyond the simple replication of paperprocesses in digital form. It presents a singlesource of evidence for all, to which all partiesare invited. Evidence is stored, reviewed,and accessed entirely online through a webbrowser. Parties do not need to download Going paperless solves some issues, but ifthat results in multiple digital versions ofpaper documents, to which not all partieshave the same access, there is little benefit. Most types of exhibits cannot easily bee-filed, and e-filing does not create a sharedin-hearing experience for parties or theadministrative law judge (ALJ). Forwardthinking OAHs are considering not only theIT side of evidence management, but theexperiential side, too. This means paying Not only does a single repository streamlineaccess to evidence, it also makes thingsmore secure and auditable. Sendingevidence via email is inherently insecure,and attempts to protect documents byemailing passwords separately are Better ways to manage evidence Parties can securely access the DigitalEvidence Center from any location onany device, as long as they have an activeinternet connection. Once set up, theDigital Evidence Center enables new levelsof organization that were not availableusing PDFs or paper. Jurisdictions andadministrative bodies can standardize thestructures of cases so all parties know whereto upload their information and where otherparties’ uploads can be found. It’s also easy OAHs can also specify how evidence isorganized within the Digital EvidenceCenter according to the needs of a case.They can bundle all evidence that wasadmitted into cases, with notes detailingwhy certain evidence was not admitted.This is useful if cases end up going to An automatically hyperlinkedindex helps all partiesnavigate to exhibits. Empoweringpro se litigants “What we’re hearing is people like it [Digital Evidence Center],they enjoy it. They understand it. They’re wondering why wehadn’t done it before. And they’re wondering how they can This program provides continued access to justice for all” Judge Victor VillarrealWebb County Court-at-Law II, Texas Empowering pro se litigants Pro se litigants expect justice, but often struggle tounderstand the complexities of the hearing process.Accommodating them seamlessly consumes too many Pro se parties often have the evidence they needto support their case but struggle to present itcorrectly at a hearing. If this evidence can beintroduced as exhibits, these cases stand a Empowering pro se litigants The Digital Evidence Center allows laypeople topresent evidence for their case. Pro se litigantscan upload evidence from a phone or computer,and OAHs can set the level of access granted to The Digital Evidence Center will take care ofthe pagination, indexing, and formatting ofthe documents. Litigants can even uploadphotographs of paper documents, and the 1.They can register on the platform just like“professional” users and have full access. 2.The OAH can pre-register the pro se litigantwhereby they then click on a link in an email or 3.The OAH grants the litigant upload accessonly, meaning they receive a link via email ortext through which they can sh