Setting the parameters of ‘digital (criminal) justice’ in Scotland

The term ‘digital justice’ has been used by the Scottish Government to delineate the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) in its civil, administrative and criminal justice systems. This paper concentrates on the latter area, outlining the content of the original 2014 digital j...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nellis, Mike (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: Probation journal
Year: 2017, Volume: 64, Issue: 3, Pages: 191-208
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Corporate futurism
Cybersecurity
Digital justice
Disruptive innovation
Surveillance
Description
Summary:The term ‘digital justice’ has been used by the Scottish Government to delineate the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) in its civil, administrative and criminal justice systems. This paper concentrates on the latter area, outlining the content of the original 2014 digital justice strategy document and the subsequent Holyrood conferences used to promote it (Scottish Government, 2014). It notes gaps in the strategy, not least a failure to specify what human beings could and should be doing in digitized justice systems, and ambiguity about the endpoint of ‘full digitization’, which could be very threatening to existing forms of professional practice. It sets the policy debate in the broader context of increasing automation and the more critical literature on digitization, concluding with recommendations for a revised policy document, ideas which may be of interest outside Scotland.
ISSN:1741-3079
DOI:10.1177/0264550517712625