New court system working wonders
THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC)’s goal is to enhance the justice delivery system. It is currently developing new court stations and has since successfully rolled out the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS). It also recently set up a stand-alone research department. Its mandate is to provide the bench with support services relating to jurisprudential research. The Sunday Mail’s
(NM) spoke to JSC secretary
(WC) on these developments and their plans going forward.
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NM: The JSC recently created a research department. Can you please let us know its mandate and functions?
WC: The mandate and functions of the department are derived from the recognition that legal research services and judicial support are essential for the proper, effective and efficient administration of justice.
In this regard, the mandate of the department is to provide legal research and ancillary services for the effective administration of quality justice in Zimbabwe.
The functions are then derived from this broad mandate, and these are not exhaustive. They include providing legal opinions on matters heard by judges and magistrates; undertaking research on specific legal questions forwarded to the department by a judicial officer; promoting informed judicial decision making underpinned by prior research; noting and reporting on significant jurisprudential developments within the jurisdiction and on the international plane to judicial officers and other stakeholders; and generally promoting a culture of research and skills development among judicial officers and other members of the judicial service.
NM: What motivated the JSC to set up such a department? WC:
The establishment of the research department builds upon the consensus that when judges are supported in the adjudicative process by assistants, the quality and efficiency of their work can be further improved in the interest of society and the parties to the judicial proceedings.
The operationalisation of the research department is also in line with the JSC 20202025 Strategic Plan, in which the commission desires to provide quality justice to the people of Zimbabwe through delivery of quality judgments by judges and magistrates.
This, in turn, enhances access to justice and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the courts. Finally, the provision of research support to judicial officers is in line with international best practice.
Countries within the region like South Africa and Kenya, and even those beyond the region like the United States and the United Kingdom are examples of nations with vibrant research systems in their jurisdictions.
NM: How is this department different from the current setup, where we have JSC staffers who assist the bench with research on legal matters? WC:
Traditionally, we have had three categories of staffers attached to the chambers of judges to assist judges in their day-to-day work. There are judges’ secretaries, who provide typing functions, especially judgments; and judges’ assistants, who provide administrative and legal support.
They manage the judges’ chambers and are ordinarily resident in the High Court, Labour Court and Administrative Court chambers.
We also have judges’ clerks, who are non-legal personnel. These assist judges in managing the courtroom during hearings and provide all the other logistical support they may require.
We then have researchers, who previously have been deployed to judges’ chambers in the Constitutional and Supreme Courts to provide intermittent legal research services as and when needed.
The judges’ assistants and researchers are trained and qualified lawyers.
The creation of the research department has now led to the amalgamation of the researchers and judges’ assistants into one function of research work. Superior court judges will now have a researcher deployed to their chambers.
The expectation is that they will make use of this vital service to ease pressure on themselves.
NM: How far will the research department go towards enhancing justice delivery in the country? WC:
When decisions that come out of the courts are well-informed and well-researched, this ensures that the people of Zimbabwe, who are the primary beneficiaries of these decisions, will have confidence in the justice system. In addition, there will be assured and perceived fairness in the entire justice sector.
Such confidence in the justice system translates into a rush by people to the courts to have their disputes adjudicated, and it discourages the public from taking the law into their own hands.
NM: Some sections of the judicial sector have raised concerns about the efficiency of the IECMS. What measures have you taken to improve the new system? WC:
The difficulties that are allegedly associated with the IECMS have more to do with lack of knowledge and skill to manoeuvre through the system than anything else.
We noted this major challenge when we embarked on the third phase of our implementation matrix, that is, when we moved to the General Division of the High Court.
Unlike the other courts — like the Constitutional Court, the Commercial Court and the Supreme Court, where the volume of work is not that much — there is a lot of litigation that goes on in the General Division of the High Court. Consequently, we have much more litigants who visit that court and who would want to access that court through the system.
Even with legal practitioners, the generality of them practise in the General Division of the High Court.
On the part of the JSC, we have more members of staff deployed to this court compared to the other courts.
The implementation of the IECMS in the Constitutional, Supreme, Commercial and Labour Courts has been smooth, with little or no challenges at all.
Most of the challenges experienced in the General Division of the High Court under phase three were not felt in those courts.
This is why we say the challenges are not really about the system.
They are a result of the nature of work found in the General Division of the High Court, where we have a large number of litigation matters, legal practitioners, litigants and JSC staff, which results in all these so-called difficulties being referred to.
Our responses to these challenges were, therefore, directed at the court, rather than the system itself. After the launch of the third phase of the system, there was a general outcry of system malfunction and internet challenges.
Having realised the deficit of knowledge by users of the system, the first thing we did was to embark on a massive training programme countrywide, targeting users of the system — including lawyers, court litigants and other stakeholders.
We found that a lot of them were unaware of the system’s requirements and functions, such as how to make a court request, how one can connect to a case and how to make online payments and upload documents, including pleadings, through the system.
After undertaking this training, which proved to be a success, we have now experienced a period of tranquility.
Most lawyers and litigants now have basic knowledge of how to use the system.
Those who do not have the necessary gadgets and adequate internet bandwidth at their offices or homes are encouraged to visit the nearest courthouse, where we have set up e-filing offices manned by qualified JSC staff, with adequate internet and the required gadgets that can be used to file cases or pleadings and participate in virtual hearings.
We have had to retrain our staff as well because we realised that some of them had not grasped the basic system functionalities in the manner we would have wanted, as they took too much time to process work in their portals and, in worst case scenarios, they had no idea of what to do.
Thirdly, we have contracted additional internet service providers so that when one goes down or is experiencing challenges, the other picks up from there. This has ensured that there is continuous internet service at the courts. We have further created what we call internet hubs at our busiest High Court stations in Harare and Bulawayo. This is because many lawyers prefer to visit the courts to use the system, instead of their own offices or homes. We must continue to support them until they are fully set up at their offices.
These interventions have ensured that the system is fully functional and the litigants enjoy uninterrupted services.
We continue to monitor the system and intervene as and when the need arises.
This is a new system and such challenges are expected. What is important is not to lift our hands in exasperation or give up by going back to the manual system.
We need to be positive and properly support the system so that, at the end of the day, the system enhances, rather than hinders, the administration of justice.
This is an easy and user-friendly system. The perception of complexities is, as already explained, more out of lack of knowledge on how to use the system.
As the JSC, we will continue to offer free training to lawyers and the generality of the public so that there is a much better appreciation of the system and the benefits one can derive therefrom.
For those who may experience challenges using the system, we have established continuous support structures to assist users.
We have set up a JSC IECMS Help Desk manned by two administrators, whose responsibility is to respond to IECMS inquiry emails.
To access this facility, you send in your inquiry via email to: zimiecms@jsc.org.zw
Furthermore, we have in place a 24-hour call centre that is manned by two administrators, whose role is to attend to IECMS inquiries.
We are certain that sooner, rather than later, there will be full appreciation of the system in the country.