Excellent Court Websites
JUSTICE SERVED has just announced its winners in the 2006 competition for court websites. While two out of the top three are Commonwealth courts, no Canadian court was mentioned
2006 Top 10 Court Website Awards
THE SUPREME COURT SINGAPORE
The Singapore Ministry of Law and Subordinate Courts were past winners, but this is the first appearance of their Supreme Court, which consists of the Court of Appeal and the High Court.
More important, this website deserves highest honor for the number and sophistication of online court services. It has online e-filing, access to judgments, Law-Net litigation support, booking of the high tech courtroom and booking of the “Mobile Info-Tech Trolley.” And its Mobile Information Service even text-messages a variety of information to cell phone subscription users via an easy menu of codes. The toggle switch to translate the site into Chinese is an added bonus. This is a great example of migrating court services to the Web.
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY
In 1999, the Los Angeles Municipal Court won in our first competition. Now with court consolidation well underway in California, the LA Superior Court has earned an award for its all-round e-service excellence. It has online case summaries, court calendars, small claims e-filing, civil documents, criminal index, divorce records, and even video court appearances using a private contractor. The array of e-traffic offerings, alone, is worth a visit, and the experiment with Spanish language offerings is commendable. To top things off, it has an online calculator to count the number of court days and translate into a date.
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
This three-time winner also grabbed honors in 2002 and 2004, yet it keeps improving with age. Services include e-filing, online calendars, enhanced e-search of records, audio & video of judgment summaries and a court calendar email subscription. An innovative feature that is unmatched in other court websites is the “E-court Forum” that allows interactive access to court orders and directives. The choice of language offerings is particularly impressive.
NEBRASKA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COURT
Workers’ compensation courts are a growing specialty field in administrative law, and this website demonstrates how to use the Web effectively to help litigants and practitioners. It has an RSS feed to inform subscribers of court news, a good online records search feature, decision & order database, online calculators and even electronic data interchange.
IOWA JUDICIAL BRANCH
Several state court portals have won in the past, but this is Iowa’s first appearance on our list. They earned this distinction with a clean, well organized site that boasts video appellate arguments, appellate opinions, trial court records, payment of traffic & minor criminal offenses, email notification subscription, and professional regulations. Records search and retrieval are free, with fee-based enhancements.
US DISTRICT COURT, DISTRICT OF NEVADA
While most US District Court websites offer similar online records access (through PACER) and e-filing (through ECF), the District of Nevada does a good job organizing the content and providing aesthetic, functional navigation. The link to the federal court OSCAR feature is worth a visit … this allows online application and review for clerkship positions.
CONNECTICUT JUDICIAL BRANCH LAW LIBRARIES
The state court portal itself is a past winner, but this law library site is worthy of separate honor as best in its class. It offers the usual access to statutes and regulations, but also allows “ask a librarian,” search of the catalogue and a link to court cases through the court portal.
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF NAPA
This California superior court proves you don’t have to be big to be among the best. For their first listing in the Top 10, Napa has traffic citation payments, EZLegal Forms (statewide), online calendars, tentative rulings, case indexing, interactive jury services and even the ability to fill out a questionnaire to serve on the grand jury.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS
In their debut on the Top 10 list, the DC Courts offer good choices for online services including private contractor e-filing for civil, juror services and a child support calculator. The ability to accommodate multiple languages to better serve a culturally diverse jurisdiction sets this site apart from the competition.
BREVARD COUNTY CLERK OF THE COURT, FLORIDA
A repeat winner from 2001, Brevard has above-average interactive choices that continue to grow. Jury services have improved, traffic citation payments are added, and the criminal and civil case records have impressive cross-reference search criteria. A link to foreign language translation support is recognition of diverse customer needs.
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