Friday, March 29, 2024

New initiative to improve operational efficiency in courts in the OECS

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CASTRIES – The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is implementing an e-litigation web portal within all courts in the sub-region for the electronic management of cases filed within the jurisdiction of the ECSC.

In a statement, the ECSC said that this solution is a highly proven web-based application software developed by the Singapore-based Crimson Logic Ltd, with a branch in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The online solution utilises Crimson Logic’s eJudiciary Accelerator (CLA) product. Implementation in the first instance will be done in the following member states and territories: St Lucia, the territory of the Virgin Islands, and Anguilla during the next nine months. However, full implementation of the e-litigation solution, in all the remaining member states of the Eastern Caribbean, is expected by the end of 2018.”

The OECS groups the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin islands.

The ECSC said, “the e-litigation solution is a web-based application that will provide court users and stakeholders with access to assigned services anytime, anywhere and on any device including smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops.

“The proposed e-litigation solution will include the following components and features: a judges’ portal, attorney access, electronic filing, electronic notification, electronic payments, electronic docket (cause list) preparation, functionality to resolve attorney scheduling conflicts, electronic case management, workflow and rules management, creation of trial bundles, and a reporting and analytics module.

“The e-litigation web portal will serve as the platform to increase operational efficiency in the courts of the sub-region, directly resulting in a reduction of operational costs while improving efficiency. Importantly, the e-judiciary solution will also contribute towards increasing the transparency of court services allowing the ECSC to improve access of its services to stakeholders on a macro level.”

The ECSC said as part of the activities leading to the full implementation of the e-litigation solution, there would be extensive consultations with all stakeholders in the different member states and territories that will include all the judges, magistrates, court staff, lawyers, Directors of Public Prosecutions and Directors of Prisons.

The ECSC said it is “very excited about this development” and looks forward to the implementation of the new solution to improve the delivery of justice to the citizens of the region and significantly reduce the costs associated with the operations of the courts both at the ECSC appellate and original jurisdictions.

“Once implemented the software solution will completely revolutionise the ECSC filing, case management and court processes thereby allowing the ECSC to achieve its mission and vision much more effectively,” the ECSC added. (CMC)

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