The era of missing dockets and misplaced court documents which usually create avenues for corruption and unnecessary frustration in the justice delivery system will soon be a thing of the past following the official launch of the e-justice project.
The project, launched in Accra yesterday by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has automated the existing manual fling systems within the courts’ registries from filing of cases through the execution of court decisions to final appeal.
As a result, there will no longer be instances of duplications of suit numbers, hand written documentation and manually created files, manual transfer of documents from one person to the other through registries, and high case processing times and case backlogs in the justice delivery system.
The project is also expected to rid the system of manual payments and receipts for court processes which may result in corruption, delays in court processes, manual financial reconciliation, inconsistent reporting at various levels, and loss of documentation during processing.
It is wholly sponsored by the World Bank, through the Ministry of Communications, with the Judicial Service as the implementing agency.
President Akufo-Addo, speaking at the launch, said the system would enhance the nation’s efforts of improving the nation’s justice delivery system and commended the Chief Justice, Mrs Sophia Akuffo for providing the leadership, the Ministry of Communications and the World Bank.
“The project is attempting to help ensure that the law keeps pace with technology, ending the age old missing docket phenomenon and endless litigations which have plagued the delivery of justice in the country for many years,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said there were several instances of people feeling shortchanged due to the cumbersome nature of the processes involved in filing cases, forcing many to give up completely on the justice system.
“Through the e-justice system, an electronic platform is being provided for process filing, process service, fee assessment, and online payments. The platform, additionally, automatically assigns cases to courts and judges, a clear departure from the days of manual assignments,” he said
In addition to the implementation of the project, he said training programmes were being held for members of the bench and their staff and urged all members involved with the implementation of the system to strive for excellence and demonstrate integrity in the use of the platform.
Mrs Sophia Akuffo said the project would eliminate the human interface in the filing of court documents, eliminate opportunities for corruption and improve the general justice delivery system for Ghanaians.
She described the system as a seamless justice administration system that would facilitate the process from the commencement of suit to its final appeal.
The Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Ekuful said the ministry would make every effort to ensure the success of the system and gave the assurance that similar projects under the e-transform Ghana projects would be rolled out to improve the quality of life in Ghana using ICT.
BY YAW KYEI
