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| EAC Network Administrator / IT, Arnaud Gahimbare (end L) demonstrating how the system (CMRS) works in the Court room |
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| Hon. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire presenting a paper on Case Management and Recording System |
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| A group photo of the Chief Justice Hon. David Maraga ( front 2nd
R), EACJ President, Dr . Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja (2nd
L), EACJ Vice President . Justice Liboire Nkurunziza (L) & Justice
Aaron Ringera (R) with other Judges of the Appellate Division, Registrar
and other officials.
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The Chief Justice and
President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kenya yesterday
visited the Court to study the operation of the Case Management and
Recording System (CMRS).
His Lordship, Justice David Maraga appreciated the invitation by the
EACJ President Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja to visit the Court and
especially to learn and know how the Regional Court is becoming a
digital and paperless Court.
Chief
Justice Maraga commended the technology advancement of the EACJ which
he observed will increase the efficiency in the judiciary thus rendering
justice timely and reducing the backlog of cases. He noted that the
Judiciary of Kenya have been trying to introduce the same but has not
yet reached to the level required and that with experience from EACJ,
they will be able to introduce the similar system
too.
His
Lordship, the EACJ President, Hon. Justice Ugirashebuja welcomed the
Chief Justice and expressed gratitude to him for accepting his
invitation to visit
the Regional premises in Arusha . He also commended him for being the
first Chief Justice in the Region to visit the Court.
His
Lordship Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Judge of the Appellate Division
who heads the EACJ Information Technology Committee, presented a rich
and detailed
paper on the establishment and operations of the case management and
recording system at the EACJ as well as in his National Court that is
the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Uganda where he also serves as a
Judge.
Justice
Kiryabwire thanked the Chief Justice for having thought about
benchmarking with the EACJ on how CMRS works. He also explained the
importance of CMRS
as an enabler for an efficient and faster running the Court businesses.
Justice Kiryabwire said that the case management and recording system
through electronic filing system addresses the common mistakes of
litigants files going missing in the Registries,
hence promotes transparency and safety record keeping. He also added
that the system supports recording and transcription of proceedings
which have replaced handwritten practices that are time consuming and
increases paper work.
His
Lordship further stated that, the system improves good public
perception of the Court and is cost effective because it cuts costs of
transporting pleadings
from Partner States. That, it is a user friendly system and easy to
understand and navigate. Justice Kiryabwire further recommended that,
CMRS requires training of the stakeholders and continuous practice until
they are used to it. He also pointed that, for
any ICT system in a judiciary to be effective, it needs the following; a
vision bearer/ good leadership, attitude change from analog to digital
thinking, investment cost, functional / motivated ICT department and
staff, working with the Bar and incorporation
of the use of ICT in Rules of procedure/ ICT Policy.
In
his conclusion Justice Kiryabwire said that, in EACJ the system is not
yet open to the Lawyers as modalities are still being put in place for
this. Electronic filing can however be done at the Court Sub-registries
in the Member States.
The
Chief was accompanied by Hon. Justice Stephen Kairu of the Court of
Appeal of Kenya and other senior officials from the Judiciary, while the
EACJ President
with the Judges of the Appellate Division, Registrar of the Court Hon.
Yufnalis Okubo and other staff of the Court.
Notice for the editors:
Case management System
The
case management system developed as an engine to facilitate the court’s
procedures and processes. The system currently can perform the
processes of the court
from first to last stage as expected. Custom built in alignment to the
court’s rules of procedure, the system runs just as the traditional
processes would. It documents, records and audits each stage of the case
in the Court. Developed with the capability
of e-filing, this system in the future will give stakeholders
capabilities to interact with the court system and file cases at their
desks from any location.
Court Recording System
Provided
by Jefferson’s Audio and Visio systems (JAVS), and responsible for
video and audio court recording, JAVS has fitted the court with both a
software and
hardware outfit that makes it possible for the court to record its
sessions as they proceed and also give the capabilities to live stream
sessions as they are going on. This system also built in integration
with the case management system to have the cases
synchronized with their respective MPEG sessions for reference reasons.
This marriage between these systems propels the court to a world class
court pushing the boundaries the court to a world class technological
platform.
The system was launched by the EAC Heads of State on 30th April 2014 at the Extra-Ordinary Summit of the East African Community in Arusha,
Tanzania.
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