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NLJ this week: Building digital bridges to justice

31 October 2025
Issue: 8137 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Rule of law , Artificial intelligence , Legal services
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With chronic underfunding and rising demand leaving thousands without legal help, technology could transform access to justice—if handled wisely, writes Professor Sue Prince of the University of Exeter in this week's NLJ

The new Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC), created under the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022, proposes inclusive digital standards and partnerships linking pre-action platforms, ombuds services and the courts. Prince argues for collaboration between public and private providers to create interoperable systems that ensure reliable, affordable online pathways for litigants.

While initiatives from the Ministry of Justice and Lawtech UK promise innovation, most legal tech still targets commercial users, leaving individuals behind. The challenge, Prince warns, is not just digital inclusion but credibility: without trustworthy, accessible tools co-designed with NGOs and practitioners, the justice gap will only widen—a digital divide in the making. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

Kate Gaskell, CEO of Flex Legal, reflects on chasing her childhood dreams underscores the importance of welcoming those from all backgrounds into the profession

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dispute resolution team welcomes associate in London

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Special education needs and mental capacity expert joins as partner

NEWS
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
In Ward v Rai, the High Court reaffirmed that imprecise points of dispute can and will be struck out. Writing in NLJ this week, Amy Dunkley of Bolt Burdon Kemp reports on the decision and its implications for practitioners
Could the Supreme Court’s ruling in R v Hayes; R v Palombo unintentionally unsettle future complex fraud trials? Maia Cohen-Lask of Corker Binning explores the question in NLJ this week
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