LEGAL TECH AND ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN TOURISM traders’ bad practice as well as to ensure a quick response to fraudulent cross-border activity.11 Legal Tech may therefore provide useful assistance to the increasing number of the so-called self-represented litigants (SRLs) in accessing the justice, as they usually cannot afford legal help, while law firms are not generally interested to represent litigants with low income. However, that assistance need to be well- -balanced as too much help can constitute unauthorized practice of law (for court staff) or bias (for judges), but providing too little help can effectively deny SRLs access to the courts.12 According to the conducted theoretical research, a truly helpful and holistic ODR program aimed to assist SRLs and others should have the capacity to provide the following tools as part of a modular system (not all tools, or modules, are necessary for every case): 1) case management (initiating and managing the dispute through a secure platform allowing users to continuously access the data and indicating timelines they need to meet, what documents are required at specific times, progress of the case, etc.); triaging (directing users to the appropriate forum for their dispute and indicating which cases require urgent action and which cases provide fewer risks to litigants); advisory tools (helping users assess the strength of their cases); communication tools (videoconferencing, secure portals for direct text-based communication, virtual spaces for shuttle mediation etc.); decision support tools (which go beyond advisory tools to use analytics to facilitate direct trade-offs leading to a quick settlement); drafting software or agreement technologies (software that assists in drafting acceptable agreements).13 The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe recognizes that innovative use of modern information and communications technology (ICT) within courts on the one hand, and ODR procedures on the other, can play a role in overcoming existing barriers to individuals’ access to justice.14 Member States are thus encouraged to promote and further develop ODR mechanisms as part of their obligations stipulated in 11 Cortes, P. (2015). A new regulatory framework for extra-judicial consumer redress: Where we are and how to move forward. Legal Studies, 35(1), pp. 127-131. 12 Schmitz, A. J., & Zeleznikow, J. (2021). Intelligent Legal Tech to Empower Self-Represented Litigants. Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, 23, 145. 13 Ibidem, 175-177. 14 See: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Access to justice and the Internet: potential and challenges, https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=22245&lang=en
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