Technology and Florida's rules of judicial administration.

• Author: Silverstein, Murray
• Position: Special Issue: Technology & the Practice of Law

Technology in the courts has become a driving force behind the need to modernize and adapt Florida's rules of court to the way business gets done within the judicial branch of government. Within each segment of the stakeholder base--lawyers, self-represented individuals, judges, clerks of court, law enforcement, and the courts' information and technology officers--the current and emerging processes lend themselves to greater efficiencies, faster response times, and ease of information transmission and dissemination, in a court system brimming with features never before imagined. With the advent of progress, however, comes the increased need to protect sensitive and confidential information without denying access to the courts, while also ensuring uniformity and consistency across Florida's 20 judicial circuits, five appellate districts, and 67 county clerks' offices.

Leading the development of Florida's electronic court system have been the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Courts Technology Commission, the Florida Association of Court Clerks and its affiliated Florida E-Filing Authority that operates the e-filing portal, as well as The Florida Bar's standing rule committees. Among those standing committees, the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration Committee (RJAC) has had a defining role.

The RJAC has the singular responsibility to act as the "rules coordinating committee" under Rule 2.140(a)(6) among the other rules committees for rules of general or common application. Also, the Rules of Judicial Administration are imbued with the additional authority to ensure uniformity and consistency among all rules of court through the express provision that they "shall supersede all conflicting rules and statutes." (1) These attributes of coordination and superseding other conflicting rules and statutes have placed this rules set and the RJAC at the forefront of shepherding technology-based rule changes. The rule changes, in turn, have helped effectuate Florida's emergence as a leading electronic court system in the country.

Public Access vs. Individual Privacy

An example of the role the Rules of Judicial Administration has played in this challenging but progressive endeavor includes balancing the rights of public access to court records under Fla. Const. art. I, [section]24, while also protecting individual privacy under art. I, [section]23. Filers can e-file and serve documents electronically under rules 2.525 and 2.516, respectively. (2) And, with the court's March 19, 2014, relaxation of the moratorium...