Judicial service automates 116 more courts

Some one hundred and sixteen (116) courts have been automated across the country, bringing the total number to 228. The automation aims to provide efficient and effective recording of court proceedings.

Noble Kekeli Nutifafa, the Director of ICT at the Judicial Service, speaking at the third edition of the Chief Justice’s Meeting with the Judicial Press Corps (JPC), said 71,781 cases had been filed as part of the e-justice system initiated by the Judicial Service as of July 2024.

The e-justice system (also called Paperless Courts) is part of the government’s e-Transform Programme, which seeks to automate the existing manual filing systems within the Court’s Registry. The system includes e-filing of cases, e-payment, and document requests for the execution of court decisions.

He said the project would be expanded to all high courts nationwide. The Service has also developed an e-bail tracking system used by the courts to check documents used for sureties.

“It is also used to keep track of the inflow and outflow of documents deposited at the Registries,” Nutifafa added. He said there had been some digital intervention with the development of the Document Management System.

Nutifafa said it was to ensure faster information retrieval, preservation and enhanced data, cost savings, increased transparency, and disaster recovery. He said other upcoming initiatives included e-signature/digital signature, court alert, and notification systems, national transcription centers, an electronic case management system, a digitalized land database, and a speech-to-text mechanism.

Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo said the Service would launch the small claim debt recovery court at La on August 6, 2024. She said it was to ensure expeditious trials with a view to reducing the backlog of cases.

The Chief Justice said the Service was pursuing the digitization of its operations to address the issue of land litigation across the country with the setting up of an expert committee. She said the committee would include judges and surveyors to develop strategies to reduce the problem of litigation.