A Study of the Socio-legal Impacts of ICT Adoption by Malaysian Courts

Drawn from an ongoing research which attempts to examine the socio-legal implications of the current adoption of ICT on the delivery of the civil justice system of the High Courts in Malaysia, this research aims to examine the socio-legal implications of ICT adoption in the abovementioned courts. The research adopts a qualitative method, comprising of the collection of primary data (which involves field work adopting case study design at two High Courts of West and East Malaysia) and secondary data (which involves library-based research). The primary data which have been generated is analysed by using the computer aided qualitative data analysis software ATLAS.ti version 7 prior to reporting of the same. It was found that there are several social and legal implications arising from the ICT adoption by the courts, including both advantages and disadvantages. Among others, ICT helped to speed up the disposal rate of proceedings, and reduce the backlog of cases. On the other hand, ICT at the courts also raised novel risks and uncertainties such as security and privacy risks, as well as risks associated with the transformation from a conventional system to ICT-based system. The findings will assist the researchers to propose recommendations for the amendment to the relevant statutes, improvement to the practice directions, and to propose best practices and code of conduct in implementing ICT in the Malaysian courts.