Differences in understanding of the e-justice essence in Russia and abroad

The article is concerned with the study of the advanced legal phenomenon, which is new for both our country and the world legal community as a whole. In modern legal science and contemporary literature this phenomenon is called “e-justice”. The analysis of publications issued by legal experts, both theorists and practitioners, was conducted by the author. The research was carried out to identify a number of approaches facilitative in the understanding of the e-justice essence. As a result, two main approaches to the definition of the legal phenomenon in focus were revealed: an approach based on the simple enumeration of elements composing the phenomenon and the definition of e-justice as a method of justice realization based on the use of information technologies. At the same time, the author indicates that the last definition does not clarify whether the use of information technologies is applicable in the production of all or only some legal proceedings. Moreover, the majority of domestic authors, revealing the essence of e-justice, do not impose an obligation to express all procedural actions in an electronic form. They recognize such opportunity only for legal proceedings under statutory conditions. Considering deep foreign experience in information technologies’ employment in judicial practice, the author concludes that it is essential to adopt such understanding of e-justice, which implies the of use of information technologies in the production of all legal proceedings.