Tablet use grows as UK courts go electronic

Courts in England and Wales are embracing new technology in an effort to reduce their reliance on paper and potentially expedite the hearing process, the Guardian reports.

According to the UK news provider, the Crown Prosecution Service, which is responsible for public prosecutions in both countries, is working toward a program to deliver tablet and laptop computers for lawyers to use during trials.

Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, says the transition to a paperless courtroom will enable the Crown Prosecution Service to cut transport costs significantly, as the use of tablets and other electronic devices will eliminate many of the paper documents that have to be moved between courts every day.

"At the moment we use vans, lorries and people to move these mountains of [legal] paper around the country on a daily basis," Starmer says, according to the Guardian. "It's time the electronic case file became a common basis."

Tablet computers have the potential to serve a number of purposes in the courtroom, experts say, including as a tool to keep lawyers organized and to present evidence. As they have in other areas, tablets may soon become a bigger part of the judicial system.