E-Justice in the Lowlands

It seems rather odd that in today's network society, with its increasing penetration of information technology, online administration of justice and online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanisms appear to be fairly absent in Belgium and the Netherlands. Drawing on empirical exploration, the pervasiveness and forms of existence of so called e-justice initiatives are mapped. Next, an attempt is made to explain the current situation. The contribution will be rounded off with an in-depth investigation into the opportunities and limits of e-justice in the context of contemporary welfare and Rule of Law regimes. More specifically, we ask ourselves to which degree such online initiatives could improve various aspects of access to justice, while at the same time safeguarding deeply rooted procedural and democratic principles such as due process and equality of parties. From this exploration of opportunities and limits flows a set of principles that might inform policy making in the cutting edge field of the online administration of justice and ODR.