I am grateful to the noble Lord for his intervention. Absolutely, this is about enabling people to vindicate their legal rights. The Government are conscious—we put a clause in the Bill specifically for this reason—that we need to safeguard those who cannot get online, either because they do not have proper broadband or proper facilities or because they are incapable for whatever reason of using computers.
I anticipated that it would be the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby, who spoke, so I apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman for that. She made absolutely the right point. We agree that assistance may well be needed. Although we do not accept Amendment 39, that is because the Bill already places a duty on the Lord Chancellor to arrange for such support. Extensive measures, which I will mention, have been put in place to make sure that assistance is provided to those who need it. We need to distinguish between online procedures, that is, the form-filling applications, and an online hearing. The two things are quite different.
So far as online procedures are concerned, I recognise that some users may find it difficult to use digital services. Therefore, I should make it absolutely clear that there will be no change in the current options to use paper forms and processes. As the noble Lord, Lord Marks, says, the cardinal principle is that nobody will be disadvantaged.
For those who choose to conduct proceedings using paper routes, they will be available in the same manner as at present. At HMCTS, we are improving and streamlining the paper routes and are committed to making sure that the level of service is the same no matter whether litigants are engaging with the justice system through online or offline routes. We will therefore be offering substantial support for those who want to use online routes and who can do so with support.
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The noble Baroness asked about evaluation. HMCTS intends to conduct an evaluation to understand how well the HMCTS national digital support service and
its processes are working for the public users in receipt of the support, and also for the organisation and its partner networks which provide the support. That understanding will inform decisions for the continuation and improvement of the national digital support service.
On the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, a litigant may choose to engage by non-electronic means, and the point I was seeking to bring to the Committee’s attention under Clause 19(6) was that:
“Where Online Procedure Rules require a person … to initiate, conduct or progress proceedings by electronic means, or … to participate in proceedings, other than a hearing, by electronic means, Online Procedure Rules must also provide that, if the person is not legally represented, the person may instead choose to do so by non-electronic means.”
There is no forcing an individual litigant to participate in the court processes by way of electronic means.
I turn to hearings. Whether an oral hearing is heard in person or online is a matter for the judge in the case, and that is the current position. Whether there is a hearing at all is a matter for the judge in an individual case. A judge can—and judges sometimes do—decide that the hearing will be conducted entirely on paper. That would be very unusual in some cases, extremely usual in others. There are beginning to be protocols. The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, will be aware of the guidance put out by the Chancellor to deal with civil proceedings but there has been recent guidance put out by the Lord Chief Justice with regard to criminal proceedings. Both set out the expectations of which hearing would normally be expected to be online and which would be conducted face to face. But ultimately it is a matter not for Government Ministers but for the judges in each case.