Digitalisation Of Courts

Perhaps the biggest challenge for the judiciary in the country is to reduce the delay in the court process and remove the backlog of cases. The judiciaries in most countries however face similar problems. Cost, delay and complexity in the court system were identified in the UK as the major problems with civil justice process in 1997, which eventually resulted in the subsequent reforms and the overture of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), 1997.

In Bangladesh, the digitalisation of courts, primarily with an aim to remove the backlog of cases, make the justice process swift and keep abreast with the fast-moving world, started in 2009. Not only that the digitalisation of court is 'environmentally friendly', but also it ensures quick disposal of existing cases. Digitalisation of court is a broad term and may be understood as referring to digitalisation of both records and court process. As part of the digitalisation process, the court documents – if hand-written or computer composed – have to be scanned and produced in a portal, which should be password secured in case of private and confidential information.

A lot of information, however, has to be made public for the better access to justice and facilitate the litigation process and outcome. This can be ensured by uploading every court order in the respective portals or websites. Search terms should not be confined to case numbers and may extent to contents of the documents including the names of the parties to a particular case. Thus the court records must be scanned, indexed, catalogued, archived and at times hyper-linked in order to navigate through the available materials.

However, the benefit of digitalisation can be accrued by litigants only if the online citation is taken by the courts as authoritative as paper references in case law journals. The digital system therefore has to be taken as effective on the parties to whom the orders are addressed, such as the prison authority who should be able to release a prisoner based on the order found online in the appropriate portal. While digital records are normally free of charge and accessible without restriction, a proper regulation of digitalised court system would ensure that only appropriate authorities are capable of making necessary changes, such as amending or uploading court orders, in the portal with a view to preventing online fraud.

As far as the digitalisation of process is concerned, the litigants should be able to keep themselves updated with court schedules online. Filing of cases and submitting e-documents will reduce the pile of papers in lawyer's chambers and court offices. This will consequently increase efficiency and reduce delay and complexity.

Witness depositions may be recorded and in cases of urgency video recording of witness testimony may be admitted. This will fill the time gap of witness summoning, rendering the disposal of cases quicker. In addition, the case filing and management process, if found online through a digitalised system, will become more transparent and automatic, thereby reducing the possibility of individual adverse influences on a particular case.

However, what is more difficult than the concept of digitalisation is its implementation. It will overturn hundreds of years practice in legal arena which is heavily reliant on paper based model. This will require uninterrupted internet connection throughout the courts and appropriate training for the judges and staffs for the new system. It will be difficult at the outset to make everyone familiar with the digitalised court system, for the concept is relatively new and requires technical knowledge; also it will start off as costly.

It is indeed a matter of great success that the digitalisation of courts in Bangladesh has already started, while many western countries are still in the process of transformation to the digital model. The daily 'cause list' of both High Court Division and Appellate Division cases can now be found in the website of Supreme Court of Bangladesh together with the judgment and orders in the same place, allowing litigants and lawyers to access the requisite materials themselves. It will take time before the entire court system becomes digital. There are some upcoming websites which are trying to compile all the precedents and judgments of the Supreme Court. Until then, the lawyers, litigants and judges should adapt to the new system and provide constructive feedback for the better management and development of the digital model. Those days are not far for the judiciary of Bangladesh when it should all start with a mere click of the mouse.

The writer is a Barrister-at-Law (Lincoln's Inn).