Access Protocol

Judicial Council of California  - 030137

Abstract Number: 030137

July 2003

The Judicial Council of California, the policy-making body for the California state courts, has established Access to Justice as the first of six priorities in its strategic planning efforts. As part of that effort, and with the support of the Access to Justice Committee, the Judicial Council adopted the "Access Protocol" to increase access to justice for unrepresented litigants in the courts. A fundamental piece of that protocol is that the courts will seek comment from the legal services community before implementing any new initiatives, to ensure there is not undue impact on access to justice. The Judicial Council is working with the Legal Aid Association of California (LAAC) to do outreach to the legal services community to ensure their input on Judicial Council proposed rules and forms that could have a significant impact on low income people. As part of the Access protocol, the Council must expressly consider the impact of proposed new rules, forms, and other actions on access for low and moderate income litigants, and resolved to identify and address existing barriers to access and to seek to prevent actions, rules, standards, and forms adopted by the Judicial Council from creating additional barriers to participation by low- and moderate-income litigants.

The "Access Protocol" has impacted the following projects by incorporating the concerns of low and moderate income people into the projects' development and implementation:

• The adoption of rules to assist self-represented litigants, including: Clerks cannot reject pleadings because these are handwritten or not written in blue or black ink; Courts cannot require papers to be filed on colored paper; Local rules must be made available online.

• The adoption of new plain English domestic violence forms and adoption forms specifically designed for self-represented litigants, including graphics that explain concepts such as firearm restrictions and how to serve papers. The revised forms are available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese. Plain English revisions to small claims, landlord/tenant, civil harassment and family law forms are also being considered.

• Collaboration with Legal Services website: The AOC is collaborating with builders of the California statewide website to ensure that navigation between that site and the AOC's self-help website is easy for litigants. It is also developing programs to help clients write their own agreements for simple divorce, child custody and visitation that will be housed on the legal services site.

• Encouraging local courts to develop action plans for serving self-represented litigants. Of the 58 courts, 43 have prepared plans and another 7 are working on theirs. Implementation funds have been provided and at least 10 new self-help centers have been created as a result. The Judicial Council's Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants has been developing a statewide action plan to be finalized this year. "A Report and Analysis of Action Plans Throughout California: Integrating services for self-represented litigants into the court system" is available online.

• The initiation of five new pilot self-help centers in 2002 to test different models: services to Spanish-speaking litigants, services to litigants in a variety of languages, using technology, coordinating services in an urban jurisdiction and developing regional services for rural courts. The impact of these services on the courts and the litigants they serve is presently being evaluated.

• The EZ-Legal internet program developed by the San Mateo Superior Court assists litigants to complete forms by answering simple questions that can then be e-filed with the court. The EZ-Legal Program helps litigants complete small claims, landlord/tenant, divorce, paternity, legal separation, child support and custody forms. Already, 63% of family law litigants in San Mateo are preparing their pleadings using this program. A guardianship module will be completed this fall. . The program is now available in 14 counties.

• A Manual on Appellate Procedure for Pro Se Litigants has been drafted by staff from the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego. Classes on this are offered by volunteer court staff at the local law library, in collaboration with the lawyer referral service and the volunteer legal services program. The manual and other forms developed by the court staff are being considered for statewide adoption.

• The Self-Help Website has been updated and rewritten at 5th grade level English, contains added features, and is designed to integrate more effectively with the proposed design for the statewide legal services site. Pages have been developed in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Spanish to provide easy access to the materials translated into these languages. The entire Self Help Website has been translated into Spanish. Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California is available online. The revised website contains links to all court rules, information on fee schedules, and directions to each court. AOC has also made all Judicial Council forms (over 550 forms that must be accepted by the courts) fillable online and is working to make them accessible to blind and visually impaired users. In addition, the website has links to all I-CAN! programs that work on the internet, and to the two interactive systems developed by the courts: the Sacramento Small Claims e-filing module and the EZ-Legal Program developed by the San Mateo Court:

Contact Information:

Bonnie Hough
Supervising Attorney
Judicial Council of California
Administrative Office of the Courts
455 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 865-7668
Fax: (415) 865-4319
Bonnie.hough@jud.ca.gov

Additional Information:

• Access Policy for Low- and Moderate-Income Persons, 12 November 2001. ( 99k)
• Specific Operational Examples of Proposed Access Policy ( 65k)

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