Like systems and procedures in most areas of modern society, the functioning of courts throughout the world has been enormously affected by information and communication technologies (ICT). It has become crucial for lawyers to keep pace with technical changes in judicial systems, especially in international cases where an understanding of procedural variations from one system to another could spell the difference between success and failure. This text has been written by experts who have been engaged in the planning and implementation of ICT in the courts of their respective countries. To ensure information that is as homogeneous as possible, and to facilitate cross-border comparisons, the authors have followed a common and detailed "blueprint" which includes a brief description of the judicial system under discussion. Specific areas of court technology covered include case management systems, electronic filing, and electronic data interchange. Although the emphasis is on EU Member States, a general overview of ICT applications in some Latin American judiciaries is also provided.

Throughout Europe, judicial systems are under an increasing societal and political strain to increase the speed of proceedings, to improve their organisational functioning, and to pay attention to the media and the public. As a consequence European governments have recognized the necessity to invest in their judicial systems, since they perform a growing role in the democratic life and an essential task in upholding the rule of law This difficult challenge of change can not be left only to the juridical professionals that traditionally have the domain on judicial systems. The contribution of public administration scholars will be important to develop a body of knowledge that can endorse this challenge and combine insights from different perspectives. This collection wants to stimulate further developments of public administration studies in the field of justice. These contributions describe various attempts that have been made in the different countries to cope with the increasing political and societal demands to the justice system. They reveal many existing tensions between traditional legal professional values, in particular judicial independence, and pressures to increase productivity and effectiveness of the work of the courts and public prosecutors' offices. Accountability and legitimacy of the courts are at stake here as well. Attention is also being paid to the consequences of the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies in judicial organisations.