Law Campaign
Introducing E-justice
Shakhawat Shamim & Nuzhat Bulbul
Afamous quotation of British politician William Evart Gladstone and the principle of equity is 'Justice delayed, is justice denied.' This principle is the basis for the right to a speedy trail, because it is unfair for the injured party to have sustain the injury with little hope for resolution. This is a drastic problem in our judiciary, since long. Despite the other considerable problems like insufficient judges, complicated procedure, hundred thousand of pending cases if we can introduce E-justice in the daily judicial functions it will definitely accelerate the speed of our lazy-judicial function!
“E-justice” can be defined as the use of technology, information and communication to improve access of citizens to justice and effective judicial action, which consists of dispute settlement or the imposition of criminal sanctions. The development of e-justice is a key element in the modernization of judicial systems. E-justice, the use of Internet technology in handling various administrative procedures before, during and after the administration of justice, provides a host of possibilities throughout the legal process, from lobbying through to the provision of remote authoritative legal information and certificates. It is seen by many as the key to streamlining and expediting justice.
Delays in resolving court cases and issuing judicial decisions have a range of adverse consequences. The state's seeming inability to deliver justice promptly and efficiently can cause a lack of confidence in state institutions, undermining the social and political fabric and countries' international standing. On a material level, inefficiency in the justice system prevents or delays the recovery of huge amounts of taxes and contributions by public bodies, pension funds and individual litigants. The use of Internet technologies in the judicial system can significantly hasten the processing of cases, benefiting all participants in the field of justice. By simplifying the filing and the control of legal documents, it is easier to monitor pending cases and facilitate the work of the judiciary. Electronic filing and classification of court cases offer great potential for comparative juxtaposition and jurisdictional control. As a result, judges can more thoroughly and efficiently handle the cases assigned to them.
Government can launch E-justice website so that Citizens can find answers concerning the function of the legal systems. Meanwhile e-justice strategy is to increase public confidence and transparency on the judiciary. They give information online concerning legal systems, legislation and case law. Systems for the exchange of information by electronic means between the parties and the courts (and in some cases full electronic procedures) have been introduced. The website aims to provide answers to the many and varied questions that may concern an individual involved in a judicial proceeding. It provides answers to questions such as to how the case will be referred to the court and which is the applicable law. It also provides detailed information on financial and funding matters and enforcement of judgments. Particularly this part of portal helps the clients to get the minimum idea about his case and it reduce blind dependency on the lawyer. It's a common phenomenon in our court where the court officials are taking money from the client to change the serial number of case list. If the portal provides the daily case list it help the lawyers and ensure the transparency. Presently website of Supreme Court provides daily case list one day before. It's also possible in lower judiciary. Most of the bar association in the district level have their own website, they can add E-justice portal there. Since 2003, the European Union has introduced E-justice portal and it works successfully.
Moreover, with the increased mobility of people and business across national borders, it is necessary to facilitate the access of vendors, creditors, corporate partners and consumers to reliable information in order to enhance transparency and legal certainty. These include business registers, land registers and insolvency records, which currently vary from country to country in the degree of information they include and their reliability. It should be noted that the interconnection of criminal records is the most advanced area of e-justice at present.
The E-justice portal will streamline the administration of justice and save judges' time reviewing material documentation, which will be available at all times via the internet. Furthermore, the use of portals will help to increase revenue and save money in the public and private sectors because the accelerated administration of justice not only provokes quicker receipt by the state or by the private sector the funds in question, but also removes considerable bureaucratic barriers which deter the arrival of investment funds in the country.
The Writers are Senior Lecturers, Department of Law, BGC Trust University Chittagong.
