Chief Justice says Court ramping up use of information technology to manage judicial matters

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 10TH 2010 (CUOPM) – Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court His Lordship Mr. Justice Hugh Rawlins says  the court’s electronic case management system continues to have a positive impact on the operations of High Court Offices throughout the Sub-region.
 
Speaking at a Special Sitting of the Court of Appeal at St. Kitts’ Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial  and Legal Services Complex to mark the start of the 2010/2011  Law Term in nine jurisdictions, the Nevisian-born jurist  said the introduction of JEMS (Judicial Enforcement Management Systems) underpins case flow and case management processes.
 
He said the modernization process also involves video-conferencing technology, electronic jury manager and e-filing and interactive voice response (IVR) technologies
 
Chief Justice Rawlins disclosed that during the past year, several High Court Offices and departments demonstrated a keen interest in more efficiently using the basic JEMS software or one of its advanced modules.
 
“Network connectivity has now been established from the Court’s Headquarters to the JEMS Servers located in all Member States and Territories. Although the level of IT functions that can be effectively undertaken from the Headquarters vary between Members States, the ability of the IT Department to provide remote support, data access  for analysis and backups in the event of a disaster, have been greatly enhanced,” said Chief Justice Rawlins, who however lamented that the Court’s attempts to introduce and maintain the operation of the JEMS software in the Magistrates’ Court Offices in the sub-region have met limited success and disclosed that the IT Department has undertaken to work with the staff of the Magistrates’ Court Offices to remedy this.
 
Plans to upgrade JEMS to version 6.0 by the end of 2010 and introduce the web version of JEMS, Internet JEMS, early in 2011 should permit Judicial Officers to better manage cases electronically, and would lessen the need to handle physical case files.
 
“JEMS Training for Judges, Masters, Magistrates and court office staff will be ongoing.  The Court will conduct training for court office staff in October this year.  This training will focus on Criminal Case management in the advent of the roll-out of the Criminal Division to other Member States and Territories,” said Mr. Rawlins, who expressed concern on the frequency with which clerks are transferred from the court offices especially after they are trained in the use of JEMS.
 
“This has militated against the continuity of the benefits which this system offers.  The need to continuously train persons in the use of JEMS poses a serious challenge to court offices and the IT Department.  We wish to work with the various public service departments to facilitate a smoother transition in the event that it is absolutely necessary for staff to be transferred in the future. In the end, however, it is my view that further adaptation of modern information technology to improve the efficiency of our Courts’ processes must be the main focal point of our future endeavours given the technology’s all pervasiveness and rapid development,” said the Chief Justice.
 
He said the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court IT Department recently provided technical assistance to the High Court, Attorneys General Chambers and Magistrates Court to host court sessions by way of the Video Conferencing Facility located at the First District Court office in St. Lucia.
 
“The Court has now installed Video Conferencing equipment at its own Headquarters in St. Lucia. This facility will be complemented by installations that are being undertaken by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) at High Courts of all the independent Member States of the OECS,” said Chief Justice Rawlins.
 
The CCJ project is expected to be completed by the end of this year and on completion, the Court of Appeal will conduct some sittings by way of this facility.  The facility will also be used to take evidence from similar facilities round the world, as well as for bail and other hearings from prisons.
 
Chief Justice Rawlins said significant changes are underway to enable the Court to use computer programmes and electronic databases in Jury Management.  The pilot project is underway in the Criminal Division in St. Lucia.
 
“Rule 12.1 of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2008 of St. Lucia confers power upon the criminal division manager to carry out the duties ascribed to the Registrar in the Criminal Code to manage the jury. The rules also provide for the use of a computer programme and electronic database, instead of the Juror’s Book for the selection, summoning and empanelling of jurors. The IT Department will initiate discussions with the software vendor PCSS to develop mechanisms for the use of their Jury Manager software to manage the entire Jury process at the Criminal Division,” the Chief Justice said the Chief Justice.
 
He said that during the past law year, new technical issues arose with the implementation of E-Filing and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Technologies.
 
“Whereas the E-Filing solution will eventually be established by the Court, the implementation of the Interactive Voice Response is being revisited to iron out issues with its user-friendliness. The Court is exploring the movement towards an alternative technology, Interactive Voice Response,” Chief Justice Rawlins told the specially invited guests which included Governors-General, a President, Prime Ministers, Premier, Chief Ministers, Appeal Court Judges, Judges, Attorneys-General, the legal fraternity and other officers of the Court in Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the British Virgin Islands.
 
He articulated proposed amendments to CPR 2000 that will contain provisions to facilitate the e-filing of documents.
 
“However, all of our IT developments must be backed by comprehensive legislation.  In this, I am minded to note the suggestion that the Governments of the region should conduct a comprehensive audit of cyber issues requiring legislative intervention and facilitate the Courts and its users with the legislation for these areas,” said the Chief Justice.
 
He said the system used to record court proceedings has become obsolete and are being replaced by newer, more efficient and cost effective digital audio recording technology.
 
“To date, the High Court in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has implemented the use of Digital Court Recorders. The Ministry of Justice in St. Lucia also acquired one unit.  It is now in use in the Criminal Division Court there.  Eventually, we must move to real-time transcription and end the tedious and time-consuming use of the Notebook by judicial officers,” said Chief Justice Rawlins.