East African court’s automation inspires other organs

 

Summary

·         The regional judicial organ was the first in the region to go online under the hybrid model in which judges sit physically in court, and lawyers appear virtually

Arusha. Automation of the East African Court of Justice’s (EACJ) operations during the height of Covid-19 pandemic has inspired other judicial facilities in the region.

A high-powered delegation of Kenya’s Judicial Commission of Elections (JCE) says it will emulate what the EA Court did in order to transform the country’s Judiciary.

“Automation initiatives piloted in some of the courts in Kenya have made Kenyan courts more efficient,” said Justice Daniel Musinga, the President of the Court of Appeal of Kenya.

The system has also made the judicial facilities cost-effective and accountable “in addition to ensuring judicial processes are streamlined”.

Justice Musinga, who is also the Vice Chair of the JCE, led a delegation that was in Arusha to learn how the EACJ has embraced technology, specifically in transcribing its proceedings.

JCE’s task is to provide a mechanism to assist the Judiciary prepare for and discharge its mandate on election dispute resolutions.

The committee draws its membership from different levels of the Judiciary, including Judges, magistrates, and other Judicial Officers.

The long-term plans of the Kenyan judicial organ are to learn from the EACJ how the automation processes can transform the country’s Judiciary into a fully-fledged e-court.

EACJ Principal Judge Yohane Masara said, indeed, that the Court’s automation of its processes during the height of Covid-19 has inspired other courts within the region and beyond.

The regional judicial organ was the first in the region to go online “and this allowed the Court to undertake its mandate successfully”.

This was even as most such institutions struggled to prove their services during the lockdown that restricted travel at the height of the pandemic.

Justice Masara, however, informed the visiting JCE team that EACJ was not yet a fully-fledged e-court because it currently operates a hybrid model for its sessions.

Under the hybrid model, Judges sit physically in court, and lawyers can choose to appear virtually or in person.

“This has greatly facilitated access to justice in the region”, the Judge of the High Court of Tanzania pointed out.

EACJ Deputy Registrar Christine Mutimura, however, outlined challenges facing the Court, which is a judicial organ of the East African Community (EAC).

These, according to her, include the limited financial resources needed for the convening of the Court sessions. This has led to a backlog of cases.

The Court was established in November 2001 as one of the three organs of the EAC. Its mandate is to ensure adherence to the law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the EAC Treaty.