ABSTRACT
Traditionally, accessing information and judgments from both the criminal and civil justice court systems in England and Wales was dependent upon offi cially reported law reports and the interpretation of these by solicitors and barristers. Nowadays, in the age of social media, the business law student, or indeed any member of the public, can access websites to fi nd out more about the work of the various courts in England and Wales. Access to law reports direct from the key court websites allows everyone to keep up to date with reported cases and also debates about justice issues. Social media has also caught up with the English legal system, with key courts now operating Facebook and Twitter accounts. With this in mind, the news that a UK law fi rm was granted permission to serve legal documents via Facebook came as no surprise, and heralds the modernisation of the court system. Such an approach follows a precedent already used in both Australia and New Zealand, whereby court approval will be granted when a judge is satisfi ed that the correct individual has been tracked down and that the use of social networking sites is the most appropriate way to serve documents when conventional means of service are not available.
