JSC digitising 16 courts in Mat South, Masvingo

Thupeyo Muleya

Beitbridge Bureau

THE Judiciary Service Commission (JSC) will digitise 16 courts in Matabeleland South and Masvingo provinces as it extends coverage of the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS) countrywide.

To date, magistrates’ courts in Mashonaland Central and Matabeleland North have gone live on the digital platform.

The initiative is part of the fourth phase of IECMS implementation, which will, among other things, ensure these courts transition to become fully paperless, allowing electronic case filing and tracking.

In an interview soon after interacting with court officials and other stakeholders on Thursday, JSC secretary Mr Walter Chikwanha said the Beitbridge courts will go live on October 1 this year.

“Under the IECMS system, courts will be digitised and you will be able to file documents, file pleadings, interact with the courts and other players in the justice administrative system — you do it through the IECMS that we have deployed,” he said.

“As a starting point, it’s important that we engage and unpack the programme to the community and line stakeholders. There is power in collaborative efforts.

“The digital system enables litigants and legal practitioners to file cases electronically, track progress remotely and communicate with the courts through a unified online platform, a first for many users in the region.”

Mr Chikwanha said training and capacity building of court officials and stakeholders will be carried out in Beitbridge next month.

He encouraged the Beitbridge community to register their details in the latest digital system at the local courts.

The system, he added, was only accessible to those who would have registered and have smartphones or gadgets with internet connectivity.

“To ensure that we don’t leave anyone behind and we are all-inclusive, we are going to set up e-filing help desks at all participating courts, offering technical support and guidance to assist users unfamiliar with the digital interface and those without the internet or electronic gadgets,” said Mr Chikwanha.

“More e-filing offices will be set up at traditional leaders’ residences in the community to make sure that those in remote areas can use the new digital system.”

He added that the IECMS will be run on two internet service providers’ systems to minimise technical glitches.

He emphasised that the new digital system would improve judicial efficiency, enhance transparency and reduce both delays and the risk of information loss.

Further, the IECMS comes with the added benefit of minimising human contact, which is critical in the evolving digital justice landscape.

The JSC has reportedly hired specialists in cyber security and information and communication technology (ICT) to ensure the system is protected from manipulation. Going forward, artificial intelligence will be adopted to improve service delivery in the IECMS, particularly in facilitating translation (to local languages) and transcription (automated).

Mr Chikwanha said the digital system had been warmly embraced by communities in areas where it is currently in use.

“We have a very secure system where we have at least 300 specialists in ICT, software engineers, cyber security and since we commenced using this system on May 1, 2022, we have had no successful attacks on the IECMS,” he said.

“As JSC, we have learnt some best systems which we have tried to follow and model Zimbabwean style from Rwanda. In fact, we learnt a lot in terms of benchmarking. They enlightened us on the challenges they have had, and we have avoided those.”