Using Web-based Legal Decision Support Systems to Improve Access to Justice

There are an increasing number of litigants who are forced to represent themselves in court. This causes havoc in the judicial system and raises issues of access to justice. We believe that important support for unrepresented litigants can be provided by the construction of web-based legal decision support systems. We discuss tools we have constructed for building web-based legal decision support systems and give examples from the domains of Family Law and eligibility for legal aid. We also illustrate how such decision support tools can help litigants negotiate their disputes.

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