British Government Decides Paper Is Outdated, Switches to Tablets

Hackers might just have all they need to start messing with the judicial system, in the UK anyway, once April 2012 comes around, as the British Government decided it was time tablets came into the picture.

According to The Guardian, traditional paper documents will begin their descent into posterity in five months or so.

In April, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will give English and Welsh prosecutors electronic tablets.

35 HP models will be distributed, in the initial phase, to Norfolk prosecutors, to test out the idea.

Later on, judges, jurors and defense lawyers will get their own as well. The same could happen to policemen later down the line.

No word on what tablets they will be, probably some devices running the Microsoft Windows operating system (not the TouchPad).

Since Android is really only suited for media devices and phones, an OS with a history in enterprise and professional environments makes more sense.

A mock trial will take place in Norwich crown court.

"It is the biggest change I have seen in my career prosecuting for 18 years," said Andrew Baxter, the deputy chief crown prosecutor for the east of England.

Utilizing tablets at large could be just what nature needs right now.

Since the government, regardless of nation, is one of the largest paperwork beasts, trading the idea for tablets would immensely cut down paper needs and, in turn, will end up sparing many trees.

For UK, this project's success would spare £50 million (or around $78 million / 58.17 million Euro) worth of trees.

There is one concern we can't help but raise, though. If everything goes digital, hacking could become an especially dangerous weapon for those who would tamper with evidence.

A solution would be to not provide any sort of wireless support on the slates, and limit the physical access, but that might be somewhat limited in the long run.