The New South Wales Land and Environment Court has launched the state's first online courtroom services, which promise to save both lawyers and clients time and money.
The initial phase of the LEC On Line project will enable legal practitioners to apply to the Court for an E-Callover, which is a formal process where practitioners ask for a hearing date to be set, or a matter to be adjourned.
The application will be processed through the Attorney General's Department's Lawlink Web site.
Practitioners involved in property matters can apply over the Internet instead of coming into a courtroom to wait for the matter to be called, saving lawyers time and clients money.
The government claims the technology will benefit regional and rural practitioners, as legal work can now be done locally instead.
"This project will benefit legal practitioners and their clients - particularly in rural and regional areas - by allowing them to conduct a range of courtroom transactions securely over the Internet. This will be more efficient, saving them time in court appearances and their clients money," Attorney General Bob Debus said.
Sixty practitioners have already signed up for the E-Callover program.
The public will have access to transcripts. Legal practitioners will be issued with log-ins and passwords for authorised access to individual matters before the court.
The second phase of the LEC On Line project will involve electronic documents lodgement and retrieval, electronic document management, records management, electronic payments for filing and other fees and electronic case management.
