
Online Pleas
PROGRAM: Fellowship
PARTNERS: Neighbourhood Justice Centre, VIC
FELLOWS: Ezekiel Kigbo
STAGE: Live
DESCRIPTION: We found that over 60 percent of people that go to court for a minor offence are planning to and plead guilty, so we built Online Pleas. The prototype demonstrates how a guilty plea could be lodged online prior to the scheduled court date for non-complex minor offences. Minor offences include:
- Traffic offences- Theft (Shop Steal)
- Transit offences- Theft (from Motor Car)
- Behaviour in Public- Theft (Bicycle)
Some of the benefits of such a tool include:
- Registry – Reduce processing for non-complex court matters
- Court – Some hearings could be flexibly scheduled into off-peak periods
- Court users – Visits to court can be avoided for minor non-complex offences
Also delivers on a recommendation from a recent review of courts to treat transactional (low-complexity, low-needs) cases through digital channels
The court retains the power to determine that a matter should be heard, via ability to reject a guilty plea.
Review the code on Github or check out the app.