NEWS RELEASE

The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia  23185

Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525

                                   

State Justice Institute Funds Study to Improve
Self-Represented Litigants’ Access to Justice

Williamsburg, VA (March 28, 2002) – The State Justice Institute (SJI) has contributed funding for a project conducted by The National Center for State Courts that aims to make it easier for people to go to court without an attorney.  The need for the project surfaced as the number of cases filed by self-represented litigants has risen dramatically in recent years, and existing civil justice reform initiatives haven’t successfully addressed the problems they face.

This project was a collaborative effort in court administration from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), in system design from the Institute of Design, and in technology from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.  SJI contributed funding to the project along with the Open Society Institute, the Center for Access to the Courts Through Technology, and the Illinois Institute of Technology Pritzer/Galven Match.

Researchers examined the barriers people who represent themselves face when trying to access the court system.  They include:

  • expense of legal counsel,

  • the inherent complexity of the court system, and

  • restrictions on litigants.

As a result of the study, the Access to Justice – A2J System – was developed, which specifies 53 separate ideas to help self-represented litigants proceed through the legal process.  An Executive Summary is available at http://www.ncsconline.org/wc/publications/res_prose_accessjustmeetneedsexecsumpub.pdf.  An Internet prototype for use by self-represented litigants also was developed and can be found at http://www.judglink.org/a2j/.

A continuation grant has been awarded to test the Internet prototype A2J System.  Up to three courts will be chosen through a competitive application process to participate in an implementation study.

The National Center for State Courts was founded in 1971 at the urging of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.  Since then, judges and court administrators have turned to the National Center for State Courts for court-related information, publications, training, research, and consulting services.  For more information about NCSC, visit its web site at www.ncsconline.org.

The State Justice Institute is a non-profit organization established by Federal law to award grants to improve the quality of justice in State courts nationwide, facilitate better coordination between State and Federal courts, and foster innovative, efficient solutions to common problems faced by all courts.  More information about the Institute is available on the SJI website at http://www.statejustice.org.

  

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