Judiciary to start e-justice portal
Aug 02, 2014
CHIEF registrar of the courts of judicature, Paul Wolimbwa Gadenya has revealed that the Judiciary is in the process of introducing an e-justice portal in its system for all courts users in the country.
By Hillary Nsambu and Michael Odeng
CHIEF registrar of the courts of judicature, Paul Wolimbwa Gadenya has revealed that the Judiciary is in the process of introducing an e-justice portal in its system for all courts users in the country.
Gadenya explained that the e-justice portal is an electronic modern way of providing basic legal information and advice on-line that would enable all court users in the country to access justice easily and kept abreast with the developments in the Judiciary.
He also explained that the e-portal is also a-one-stop-centre that would enable the court users to access the courts and the documents. It will also have an in-built complaint and instant response mechanism from the Judiciary authority which would eventually build mutual co-operation and restore public confidence in the Judiciary.
“The system will also have biographical information about individual judicial officers and court clerks. The lawyers, the court bailiffs and where courts are located. In essence, this will weed out middlemen and masqueraders who have been exploiting and distorting monies from the unsuspecting public who may be ignorant of how the courts operate,” Gadenya explained.
Gadenya, made the revelation on Friday at his High Court chambers in Kampala during a meeting with members of the Uganda Court Reporters Association (UCRA), who were together with their chief trustee, Isaac Ssemakade-Kimaze, managing director of the Legal Brains Trust that has been behind UCRA’s progress.
LBT also initiated the journalists meeting with Gadenya aimed at improving their day-t-day operation in the courts of judicature.
Gadenya further said that their on-line system would include court reporters on the Judiciary’s mailing list so that they are timely informed of the developments in the Judiciary, such as the cause-lists that is like a public notice board with all cases and in which courts.
This would also weed out quack middlemen who have been hiding such information from public for their own gain.
He also revealed that the Judiciary is also formulating a media centre in which they intend to employ two qualified journalists who would be disseminating the flow of information including court proceedings.
However, he added that he would ensure that the media is fully consulted before the rules governing dissemination of information are formalized and implemented. He would also ensure that there are regular breakfast meetings to agree on those rules to monitor their implementation.
“All our court proceedings, under the Constitution, must be open to the press and the public except in very rare exceptional circumstances,” Gadenya stated.
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