Future of the courts: Fixed, flexible, and improvisational frameworks

This paper explores changes to the court system that could improve governance in the future. In addition to reviewing the relevant trends, the paper offers three scenarios based on fixed, flexible, and improvisational frameworks and within-, pan-, and non-spatial jurisdictions. The solutions depicted in the scenarios draw heavily on innovative uses of information technology. In combination, the frameworks and IT solutions lead to the re-consideration of several fundamental precepts about the legal system. For example, could conducting legal proceedings only in cyberspace violate due process guarantees and could the lack of in-person interactions bias case outcomes? Are pan-jurisdictional courts constitutional and are the potential unintended consequences of these courts acceptable? The vision of an improvisational, non-spatial international court system raised the questions of whether a non-governmental entity can be entrusted to manage the system and whether parties should be able to negotiate amongst themselves the frameworks for their legal processes.