Digitalization of Justice in the United States: Case Management Electronic Case Files (CMECF) and Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)

Relevance. The relevance of scientific research is that digitalization of justice is the process of introducing digital technologies into judicial systems in order to increase their efficiency, accessibility and transparency. In the United States, where the legal system is decentralized and has a variety of approaches in different states, digitalization is of particular importance. In this article, the author examines examples of digitalization of the judicial process and justice in some states of America (using the example of the states of New York, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Montana, Minnesota, etc.). CM/ECF (Case Management/Electronic Case Files) and PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) systems are key elements in the digitalization of the U.S. federal judiciary. They provide electronic management of court cases and provide public access to court documents. These systems play an important role in increasing the transparency, efficiency and accessibility of justice.Purpose of the article. The purpose of the article is to study the concept, content and nature of the digitalization of Justice in the United States. The author's goal was to achieve several results that together could answer the question: how to make the effect of digitalization of justice as large and useful as possible for citizens and the whole society as efficiently as possible, avoiding risks. It seems that this goal was achieved mainly through an analysis of the legislation of the US states, each of which has its own characteristics in the field of electronic filing of court documents, electronic justice and digitalization of court hearings, as well as online participation of parties in the court case.Methods. The leading method of researching the problem was the deductive method, which made it possible to study the legal nature of the digitalization of Justice in the United States. The article uses inductive method, method of system scientific analysis, comparative legal methods. The leading method underlying the solution to the problem is the inductive method, which consists in analyzing the legislation of the US states and identifying the general trend and vector of development of digitalization at the federal level.Results. The article concluded that the digitalization of judicial systems in the states of Pennsylvania, Oregon, Montana, Minnesota, Virginia, Georgia, Utah, Louisiana, Nevada, Illinois, Vermont, Missouri, Nebraska, etc. demonstrates a variety of approaches to electronic case management and digital justice. Each state implements unique technologies such as video conferencing, blockchain, artificial intelligence and automation. These innovations increase the efficiency, transparency and accessibility of justice, but their implementation comes with certain challenges, such as technical problems, ethical issues and high costs.