Self-Represented Litigants: Gathering Useful Information

Abstract

The Australian Centre for Justice Innovation (ACJI) has been funded by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department to consider how the mapping, exploration and articulation of the population of self-represented litigants (SRLs) in the civil justice system in Australia takes place and to make recommendations to improve the collection of data relating to SRLs. This Project has taken place in the context of a much larger initiative being undertaken by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department – the Civil Justice Evidence Base Project. That initiative and the preliminary objectives of the civil justice system that have been articulated are intended to develop a framework to guide future data collection, research and evaluation about the civil justice system.

Overall, this study shows that in the Australian Commonwealth civil justice system only limited data is collected about SRLs. Surveys conducted by ACJI as well as a Literature Review undertaken in May 2012 indicate that justice agencies fall into several distinct groups in respect of SRL information: 1) Those agencies that are intensive collectors of information on SRLs, which are characterised by the use of differentiated management processes, and/or specific programs, for SRLs.

2) Agencies that are infrequent and limited collectors of information about SRLs, who do not differentiate their processes to cater for SRLs, and in many instances, external agencies operate programs outside of their operational scope to deal with SRLs.

3) Agencies or bodies that collect limited information in an ad hoc manner.

Between and within all three groups, there is little consistency in nomenclature nor a systematic approach to data mining or data presentation across databases. Similarly, information exchange about the success of SRL programs is limited.

Keywords: Self-Represented Litigants, data collection, civil justice system, Australia

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K19, K39, K40, K41, K49