The forums, dubbed the ‘Policy Innovation Series’, will bring together lawyers, public administrators and IT professionals.
Court systems targeted in the upgrade include case management, e-filing and document management, and digitalisation of courtroom applications. Others include functions such as audio-visual and transcription capabilities.
Filing a court case can take up to three months because of the manual processes involved and associated costs.
Microsoft has entered a pact with Strathmore University School of Law to initiate discussions on the digitisation of East Africa’s justice systems.
The partnership forums, dubbed the ‘Policy Innovation Series’, bring together lawyers, public administrators and IT professionals.
They are informed by the need for government agencies, justice systems and private sector players to digitise in a rapidly changing world.
Microsoft’s Middle East and Africa Director of Government Affairs Christopher Akiwumi said the intended technological upgrade in the courts will improve access to justice.
“It will make it easier for litigants to participate in the court processes, providing efficiency and increased productivity and ensuring there is enhanced transparency,” Mr Akiwumi said at a recent forum.
Court systems targeted in the upgrade include case management, e-filing and document management, and digitalisation of courtroom applications. Others include functions such as audio-visual and transcription capabilities.
In line with this agenda, Microsoft and its partners are collaborating with the Comesa Court of Justice, the East African Court of Justice, the Supreme Court of Kenya and the Court of Appeal.
“The idea is for all of us to be able to sit together to discuss some of the bigger issues and challenges we are facing in the Judicial systems today, share best practice and explore how digital transformation can address some of these challenges,” Mr Akiwumi said.
Court of Appeal Judge Gatembu Kairu said that plans were underway to digitise the commercial justice sector.
“We are working with regards to case management and an e-filing solution and we hope that before the end of the current year we will be able to roll these services out to stations,’ he said.
The solution entails digital recording of proceedings and then availing a transcription system on a need-by-need basis.
Justice Gatembu lamented that judges and lawyers have to go through large volumes of forms and files, thereby delaying justice and increasing the cost of litigation.
Filing a court case can take up to three months because of the manual processes involved and associated costs.
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