18/03/2020
Impact of Information and Communication Technology on the Law and Court Process (E-Judiciary) - By Justice M.D Abubakar, NPOM (Katsina State Chief Judge and Chairman of the Occasion KTC 2020)
Being excerpts from the paper presented at refresher workshop for Judges and Kadis organised by the National Judicial Institute
Technology has become inevitable part in the day-to-day life of the society and the more societies come to know about technological development, the more they become able to take advantage of it. Whenever an innovation reaches certain level after it has been presented and promoted, it becomes part of the society.
In deciding cases, judges weigh the record, the briefs, and the arguments of counsel, mixed with an independent view of law and policy. In the past two decades, Judges and Lawyers had pondered over the application of Information and Communication Technology in the judicial and legal processes and have asked questions on whether ICT could apply and work in a court of law. The judicial process, in particular the courtroom, has traditionally been a bastion of decorum, resistant and conservativeness and if not immune to the extremes of change, could find itself in the midst of a technological revolution.
The Legal and Judicial Process essentially entails various levels of information gathering and communication between stakeholders and the conventional practices and procedures are prone to causing undue delays in justice dispensation. Given the work load and volumes of information and data in the judicial process, applying ICT in the judicial and legal process will increase efficiency, promote easy research and allow for easier information retrieval and in the long run reduce stress and enhance the health of judicial officers. Applying ICT will reduce if not eliminate inefficiency, inaccuracy, lack of transparency and integrity, the major causes of delay in justice dispensation. The advent of court room technology as a means for putting evidence before everyone in the court room has put to fore the inevitability of technological revolution in the justice process and system. It has therefore become imperative for the Nigerian Judiciary and the entire legal system to embrace ICT in its service delivery.
With the ever increase in litigation across the hierarchy of courts, our judges, their supporting staff and lawyers have to contend with voluminous records, the preparation and filing of which takes time, prone to loss and abuses and space consuming. [4] IT solutions could be deployed in a variety of ways to ensure efficiency, minimise delays, engender transparency and integrity in the system. Areas where It solutions could be deployed include but are not limited to the following;
Case Management System can be created where administrative and judicial process could be integrated in case flow the management, case tracking, court schedule and instant transcript. Deployment of Court Room Technology through the use of court recording and transcribing system will reduce the work load and stress of judges taking proceedings long hand and will make the life of judges healthier and saves time.
Through Electronic Data/information exchange system, lawyers can file documents electronically, similarly, evidence could be electronically presented. The Centralized Information Access, for instance, would allow the Head of Court access to information and data of all courts instantly and this could ease case distribution and assignment as well as track case disposition of all courts. Customized soft wares and systems such as online library, research tool kits, judgment wizard etc. could be developed to meet general and specific needs of judicial officers and support staff.
