Zim Court underscores role of IT in justice delivery

Zimbabwean Supreme Court judge, Luke Malaba, has underscored the urgent need to adopt the use of computerized information recording, storage, transcription and communication technology in the administration and management of the justice system in the Southern African country.

Officially opening the 2010 Legal Year for the High Court of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, Justice Malaba, the Deputy Chief Justice, said an Information Communication Technology Committee should be set up and given the responsibility of formulating policy on the adoption of information technology in the courts.

He said the committee could also advise on the best computer system to be used for immediate and long-term purposes.

“The advantages to accrue to the justice delivery system from the adoption of information technology is that a database would be created on all cases that have been recorded in the court and those that are brought to the courts for the first time.

“Through electronic filing details of the cases would be known, such as the names of the parties, what the case is all about, what pleadings have been filed and what stage in the process the case has reached”, said Justice Malaba.

The Deputy Chief Justice noted that computerized filing of cases would not only help in the tracking of progress in cases but it would also do away with the use of the cumbersome ledger-type books in which entries of cases were made manually. This would reduce the amount of paperwork involved and create more office space and keep the size of the administrative staff under control, he said.

“It appears to me that as we enter the second decade of the 21st Century we cannot afford not to adopt the computerized case record management system in our courts.

“Following from that we should consider the adoption of a judicial case management system. The adversarial system of the delivery of justice, which we operate in our courts, presupposes that parties themselves are in control of the progress in their cases.

“They are responsible for defining the cause of action, filing of pleadings and deciding when to set down cases for trial. The judge does not usually get involved until at the trial stage unless the parties themselves seek direction from him or her or a rule of the procedure requires that there be a pre-trial conference before a judge”, Justice Malaba said.

He said judicial case management would place the ultimate responsibility for the control of litigation in the court, as it would remove the responsibility from the litigants and their legal practitioners immediately after the case was registered with the court.

Technology, he said, would enable judges to be in control of cases soon after it is electronically filed in court.

“At national level, it would be easy to follow the progress of the case. It would increase the accountability of the individual judges for what they are doing in the discharge of their constitutional functions. That I am sure would lead to increased judicial efficiency,” he said.

Justice Malaba noted that countries like Ethiopia, Kenya and Botswana, among others, had adopted these two systems as part of their justice delivery systems. He said that the adoption of these systems would enhance the delivery of justice and reduce the backlog of cases remarkably.

by Mercy Mujuru