Urban courts digitise while rural ones lack net, power

While the transition to hearing cases online has been largely seamless for courts in Nairobi and urban areas, judicial officers upcountry are enduring endless blackouts, poor Internet and lack of equipment. 

The Judiciary has used manual processes since Independence to run judicial processes and court attendances, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced it to fast-track adoption of technology to ensure social distancing.

Sometime in the year 2017-18, as part of the Judiciary Transformation Blueprint, the Judiciary started automating and digitising its systems.

A committee (the Integrated Court Management Steering Committee) was set up to provide the platform upon which this system would be rolled out.

In July this year, Chief Justice David Maraga launched an e-filing system that enables litigants to file and track their cases. The Judiciary also conducts virtual court sessions with prisoners through video link sessions for matters such as bail and plea taking.

CJ Maraga said the digitisation of Judiciary services marked the singular most important step in harnessing technology as an integral part in dispensing judicial services to Kenyans.

 “The system has been designed, developed and implemented by our very own Judiciary's Directorate of ICT. It has many advantages and is expected to significantly impact on the speed, accuracy and efficiency of service delivery,” he said.

However, the CJ acknowledged the challenges of poor Internet connectivity and urged judges and litigants to try and get good Internet connection to ensure services to Kenyans are not hampered.

“As we have said, we have no choice, we can’t go back. Ask your members to try their best and get stable Internet connectivity,” he said.

In that regard, he also urged the ICT ministry to ensure there is good internet connectivity in rural areas to boost the operations at the Judiciary as the country embraces the new change.

The CJ also decried the lack of adequate resources required to ensure judicial functions are not derailed and the automation of proceedings does not hit a snag.

OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS

In Nairobi, most proceedings are taking place on online platforms, except corruption cases. Typically, court clerks send Skype, Zoom or Microsoft Teams links for a court session to the parties involved. The litigants turn up at an appointed time and the application hearing takes place.

In areas outside Nairobi metropolis, some courts are allocating litigants time slots to attend matters within the court premises.

Self-litigants are likely to face challenges with the new e-filing platform because the system is geared towards represented litigants.

The system requires one to register a case using a law firm or lawyer. The legal documents earlier prepared are uploaded and court filing fees paid.

The litigant then awaits the activation of the court file to be granted court audience. This means that if litigants cannot find a lawyer or understand the legal terminologies, they won’t be able to access the judiciary.

All these could add to a huge judicial backlog.

Moreover, there are many challenges as experienced by court users.

In a tweet last month, LSK president Nelson Havi said some courts have challenges with online proceedings. He tweeted during a tour to meet advocates, judges, magistrates, judiciary staff and litigants of Kisumu and Siaya counties.

In his visit to Nyando law courts, Havi found two magistrates who complained of power outage at the station.

“Two hardworking magistrates in the station, Hon Samson Temu and Hon Kipngetich Sang, lamented unmitigated power outage as a hindrance to access and delivery of justice. Rulings scheduled for delivery were adjourned. A generator is urgently needed to alleviate this problem,” Havi said in his tweet.

He added that he also visited the presiding judge Fred Ochieng of the High Court in Kisumu.

Havi urged the executive to facilitate the judiciary to finance service delivery in the many courts that are struggling.

“Four issues of great concern raised, which the Executive should facilitate the Judiciary with adequate finance for efficient service delivery: Generators, servers, laptops and video conferencing equipment for courts and prisons, and improved network at the law courts,” he said.

CHEAPER AND TRANSPARENT

Lawyer Samwel Makori said digitisation of court processes is good for litigants' ability to handle matters at reduced cost.

He said in the past, advocates had to travel long distances and incur expenses even for simple matters like mentions, but with the onset of digitisation, it's possible to do several matters across the country from the comfort of one's office.

This allows the advocate time to handle and deal with other issues and also reduces the fees burden on clients.

“You can file documents virtually as the e-filing platform set up by the Judiciary allows practitioners and the general public to link/map their cases on a digitised platform and file and follow up their cases electronically,” Makori said.

The lawyer said the digitisation of court proceedings will also help reduce cases of missing files.

With a digital record, where both the court and the client/advocate have access to the same file online, cases of missing files, which was a major issue in days past, will now be a thing consigned to history, he said.

The lawyer said the system has been largely seamless for courts based in Nairobi and urban areas, especially in terms of connectivity. Upcountry courts, however, sometimes face challenges with connectivity.

“I have had an occasion where myself and other advocates have joined a link and the judicial officer has failed to join in through what we later learnt were challenges with connection,” Makori said.

WHICH WAY GOING FORWARD?

There is also uncertainty on the form of court attendance, as judicial officers oscillate between virtual attendances and open court, making it difficult for the advocates to know which system will be used on the day.

Makori said a suggestion has been made for the system to be formally entrenched in regulations so that it is known to the advocates and the public in advance which system the court wants to adopt going forward.

For example, mentions and simple applications can be reserved for virtual appearances, and hearings reserved for open court to enable certainty.

Files not being uploaded in time for court sessions is also a disadvantage in the digital process, as for some reason, some documents filed through e-filing are not uploaded to the system.

“This only becomes apparent when the judicial officer does a matter virtually and can't trace the documents. It ends up causing delays,” he said.

Chief Registrar Anne Amadi said the Judiciary is tackling matters arising in various courts, especially those in rural areas.

“We are working on the challenges and intend to solve them by next year. We cannot go back to manual, so we have to forge ahead,” Amadi told the Star.

She added that the Judiciary has even advertised for more ICT personnel to make sure there are no technical issues arising as the digital filing continues.

Amadi said the Judiciary is already budgeting for generators and other equipment to make sure judges and magistrates work efficiently.

“We are budgeting for the important facilities to make sure that all litigants get access to the digital process without failure, and we have to embrace the digital system as everyone is going that way,” she said.

Edited by T Jalio