Judicial Service automates 116 more courts

Some one hundred and sixteen (116) courts have been automated across the country bringing the total number to 228.The automations are to provide efficient and effective recording of court proceedings.Mr Noble Kekeli Nutifafa, the Director of ICT at Judicial Service, speaking at the third edition of the Chief Justice's Meeting with the Judicial Press Corps (JPC), said 71,781 cases had been filed as part of the e-justice system initiated by the Judicial Service as of July 2024.The e-Justice (also called Paperless Courts) is part of the government's e-Transform Programme that seeks to automate the existing manual filing systems within the Court's Registry.The system includes e-filing of cases, e-payment and document requests for execution of court decisions.He said the Project would be expanded to all high courts nationwide.The Service has also developed an e-bail tracking system used by the courts system to check documents used for sureties.'It is also used to keep track of inflow and outflow of d ocuments deposited at the Registries,' Mr Nutifafa added.He said there had been some digital intervention with the development of the Document Management System.Mr Nutifafa said it was to ensure faster information retrieval, preservation and enhanced data, cost savings, increased transparency and disaster recovery.He said other upcoming initiatives were e-signature/digital signature, Court alert and notification, Systems National Transcription Centers, an Electronic Case Management System, a Digitalised Land Database, and a speech-to-text mechanism.Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo said the Service would on August 6, 2024 launch the Small Claims Debt Recovery Courts in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.The Courts, which will initially be opened on a pilot basis have been established on the instance of Quick Credit and Investment Micro-Credit Limited.She said it was to ensure expeditious trial with the view of reducing the backlog of cases.The Chi ef Justice said the Service was pursuing the digitization of its operations to address the issue of land litigation across the country with the setting up of an expert committee.She said the Committee would include judges and surveyors to develop strategies to reduce the problem of litigation.Source: Ghana News Agency