Makola in the Court premises; E-Justice in crisis

There is a growing frustration by the Users of the E-Justice system when filing their various processes at the High Court premises in Accra due to poor internet and impatient judicial staff.

At the time the reporters of News Cencord visited the High Court premises, the place had been turned into Makola market with a sea of people in long queues to have their processes verified, as the internet had been on and off since the implementation of the E-Justice System.

Some of the users interviewed complained bitterly and showed their frustration with the system and how their cases have been delayed due to the poor nature of unstable internet. Users thus showed preference in filing their cases manually for now whilst the Judicial Service take time off to fix the problems facing the E-Justice especially the internet hiccups.

The process to go through before filing a case is Business Partner Number (BP) which number is generated for a party to the suit. The party then approach the filing counter attendant for electronic assessment and cost to be paid. The customer further goes to the bank to pay for the cost and return to the filing counter for final receipt and stamping of the documents.

It may be recalled that the Judicial Service of the Republic of Ghana introduced a programme called E-Justice System into the Country’s delivery of justice. The Justice Delivery System has introduced a few months ago with a number of cases being filed and heard electronically shifting from hardcore paperwork to electronic system.

However, internet to facilitate the speed processing of these filing of cases and other related court issues has been a challenge leaving a lot of users wondering if it was a good idea to introduce this electronic filing in the face of poor internet transmission.

The Judicial service has embraced the modern way of using technology to deliver justice in Ghana for transparency, effectiveness and access to timely justice.

E-justice system is the process of using, software and hardware which facilitate E-filing, judges daily case schedule, courtroom management, electronic notification system and information websites for the public.

It was hoped that this new system had some other effective means of filing without necessarily relying on the mainstream internet and electricity systems. Users call for such a new order.