Judiciary unveils Shs9b digital system to track cases

The Judiciary yesterday unveiled a Shs9b digital system to auto-track all case files during the trial and update relevant players on the progress of the cases.
Mr Pius Bigirimana, the Judiciary’s Permanent Secretary, said the new system dubbed; the ‘Electronic Court Case Management Information System’ (ECMIS) will track the progress of all aspects of a case from the initial filing through disposition and appeal.

Initially, the Judiciary was using the Court Case Administration System to dispense justice, a system Mr Bigirimana said was prone to corruption.
“Starting from today, we have started a journey which is going to see us have case management system that is electronic,” he said.
The Judiciary signed a memorandum of understanding with Synergy International Systems Incorporated, the service provider.

Mr Bigirimana also said the new system would reduce contact between the litigating public and court staff, a move believed to curb corruption. “This system is to ensure we minimise the contact between people that are filing and the judicial offices handling the cases, which has been a fertile ground for corruption where cases disappear or delay in moving to the next stage,” Mr Bigirimana said.
“The case backlog will also be history. But that does not mean that the cases in court now will be over by that time, no, we shall continue,” he added.

Mr Bigirimana also said the system will later be rolled out to other government institutions involved in dispensing justice such as police and office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, among others.
He said the first phase of implementation will run up to May next year, adding that it will be carried out in 19 of the key courts in the Kampala Metropolitan area.
These include the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court divisions.
Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire said the service will ease the work of fellow judicial officers.

How it will work

According to Mr Bigirimana, ECMIS will provide a portal where one logs in and captures his/her case file. “It is like having a website, you go into the system and file, of course the system will have an address and it will be known to everybody so that you can enter and access it and file. Even when you have got a complaint, there is room for that,” he said.

The system will have security safe guards that allow one access information that he or she is entitled to, and also deter anyone from corrupting the data. The contractors in partnership with Sybyl, a local contractor and National Information Technology Authority (NITA), will start installing and synching the system with the Judicial system to have the ECMIS domesticated. This will then be followed by training of personal to man the system.
ECMIS will also enable court users file, access, and track progress of any case file at their time of convenience.

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