As a self-represented individual, I am not sure which legal process to follow and what are my legal options before I can decide on the next step.
Situation
When an individual needs to deal with a legal matter like divorce, civil disputes, or criminal charges, they must navigate various legal processes such as filing documents, attending hearings, and understanding court procedures.
The multiple steps and different legal avenues (e.g., family court vs. civil court) can cause confusion.
This is particularly challenging when individuals lack legal knowledge, face language barriers, or cannot afford legal representation, forcing them to navigate the system alone.
In addition, protracted legal processes, intimidating court environments, and a lack of clear guidance complicate their ability to effectively participate.
Limited access to legal aid or support for self-represented litigants further exacerbates these issues, creating significant barriers to justice.
Challenges
Complex Legal Processes: Singapore's legal system involves multiple distinct processes, each with its own set of rules and requirements. This complexity can overwhelm individuals, especially those who are not familiar with the legal domain.
Limited Legal Knowledge: Many individuals lack awareness of their rights, and the legal steps required, leading to confusion when navigating the system.
Language Barriers: Legal proceedings and documents are primarily in English, creating challenges for non-English speakers who may struggle to understand the process.
SG Courts do not provide legal advice.
Pain Points
Cost of Legal Services: Legal representation is often expensive, making it unaffordable for many individuals. While some free services exist, they may not cover all legal needs.
Understanding of Legal Process: Incorrect filing may contribute to delays in resolving matters, which adds to public frustration.
Intimidating Court Environment: The formal and complex nature of the court environment can be overwhelming for those unfamiliar with legal proceedings.
Gaps
Insufficient Access to Legal Aid: Legal aid services are available but often limited by strict eligibility criteria, leaving many without support.
Lack of Clear Guidance: With multiple legal processes and steps to follow, the absence of clear, easy-to-understand guidance can make it difficult for the public to navigate the legal system effectively.
Support for Self-Represented Litigants: Those without legal representation face challenges in understanding the different processes and requirements of their cases, leading to potential errors in handling legal matters.
Language barriers: Majority of the documentations are in English that MoPs who are non-English literates may not understand the documentations and processes correctly.
Resulting in
Widespread issues like increased anxiety, ineffective participation, and delays in proceedings.
As these challenges accumulate, they can contribute to court backlogs, erode public trust, and make the legal system feel inaccessible or unjust, particularly for those without specialized knowledge or resources.
MoPs having to seek assistance at the service hub.
Objectives and Product Goals
Vision
We envision accessible and instant legal process information for Members of Public.
Key Goals
Help Members of Public in finding out the next step for their case.
Help Members of Public reduce unnecessary trips to service hub.
Core Features
A chatbot with Natural Language Processing (NLP), enabling it to understand and interpret members of the public's queries in conversational language.
Contextual awareness throughout conversations by remembering previous interactions within the same session, allowing for follow-up questions and clarifications without users having to repeat their initial queries or circumstances.
Up-to-date legal knowledge base from sources of truth (SG Courts website, Electronic Practice Directions, etc) for the chatbot to draw from, producing and delivering consistent step-by-step format responses on legal processes.
Feedback capabilities that continuously improve response accuracy based on user interactions and feedback.
Translation features in Singapore's four official languages, improving accessibility for members of the public.
Research and Approach
Methods
Collaborated with Access2Justice(A2J) and service hub staff to investigate why users have difficulty navigating the Judiciary website and why they turn to the service hub for help.
The following survey questions were asked:
What is your reason for coming to court today?
Why couldn't you find the relevant information on the Judiciary website?
If there were a chatbot to assist you in your search, would it be easier?
Key Decisions
Explored AIBot, VICA, and SearchSG, and found AIBot as a potential tool to assist court users in finding relevant information on the Judiciary website.
The team has tested the current version of AIBot and VICA. The team has assessed that the AIBot to be most effective in providing structrured responses.
Next Steps and Future Vision
To explore with the AIBot team the creation of a prototype
To explore the AIBot to integrate with SG Courts Forms and Services Platform
To conduct a 3-month pilot at State Courts' service hub and Police Land Divisions
