The High Court today has commissioned an electronic court case management system aimed at facilitating the efficient and reliable collection of case files as well as fighting corruption in the courts of Uganda.
This new system will become operational effective 2022 and will be used in the following courts of Uganda; Buganda Road Magistrates Court, High Court Kampala, Law Development Centre and Makindye Court among others.
The launch that happened via Zoom brought together key players in the judiciary system, including Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo as the chief guest. Other guests that honoured this event included, Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija and Pius Bigirimana, Permanent Secretary to the judiciary ministry.
Addressing the guests, Chief Justice Owiny Dollo said this new technology would enable swift operations within the judicial system.
“We are now in the 4th industrial revolution which is information technology. It is fundamentally changing the way people work, learn and interact. Both government and private facilities have to move in that direction and adopt new technologies,” he said, adding that the system will also reduce corruption tendencies by court clerks who know details of case files as well as improve timeliness.
While giving the opening remarks, PS Bigirimana stressed that this new brain changer will limit corruption in courts since there will be less personal contact.
“I believe this will be a game changer because it will help to minimize person to person contact, which has been a breeding place for corruption. Clients will now be able to buy online and pay online. I have seen the inclusion of administration of justice programmes. It means we are going to be fully compliant, within the budget of the next financial year 2022/2023 we shall minimize the printing of submissions to court to avoid attracting unnecessary audit queries,” Bigirimana stated.
This system is being used in Rwanda, Tanzania, Lesotho and Guinea as well as Kosovo, Iraq among other countries.
How the court case management system works
The electronic court case management system supports electronic filing of documents, electronic service, electronic search of cases, electronic payment and receipt issuance and electronic request for withdrawal of orders.
The system has two interfaces: the user interface which is accessible to litigants, and the court interface accessible to judicial officers.
The portal allows for registration of law firms, organizations, self-represented parties, and the state. Once registered, all entities are able to file and serve documents via the portal.
The system allows for registration and filing of documents on both existing and new matters.
Once these documents are fed to the system, the user is then prompted to input details of the case.
A payment prompt appears once documents are uploaded which a party will be required to pay via a mobile money platform.
Compiled by Rashidah Nakaayi
