Justice Hellen Wasilwa: Virtual court system accelerates justice delivery

"The links to virtual court are shared with the public, thus a wider public is privy to the hearings, enhancing the transparency of the proceedings," said Justice Wasilwa.

Justice Wasilwa further stated that digitisation has enabled the judiciary to be more accountable as it has availed all necessary information to the public through its website and social media platforms.

"The electronic and mobile payment of court fees enabled by the electronic case management system and Judiciary Financial Management Information System has also increased accountability and transparency," added Justice Wasilwa.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, efficiency has been enhanced in the judiciary through reduction of paperwork and potential loss of physical court documents that may delay delivery of justice, added Justice Wasilwa.

"Digitisation of court records and automation of some of the court processes expedites the determination of cases, reducing case backlogs," explained Justice Wasilwa of Employment and Labour Relations Court at Nakuru.

Justice Wasilwa was speaking in Naivasha during the second National Legal Aid conference which was organised by Egerton University Faculty of Law Legal Aid Project (FOLLAP) and supported by the European Union and UNDP through the Amkeni Wakenya project.

According to Justice Wasilwa, the digitisation of courts has also saved on costs of storage and retrieval of court documents that are associated with manual records management.

"It's cost-effective as it saves litigants and defendants time and resources they would have used in travelling to access justice. It also potentially saves time for police officers as they can give evidence virtually and have time to attend to other official duties," said Justice Wasilwa.

Virtual courts

She added: "They [police officers] also get the convenience of not having to transport prisoners to courts. Virtual courts also reduce the costs of transferring and protecting vulnerable witnesses, thus reducing the cost of access to justice."

However, she said despite the immense progress made by digitisation, courts were still grappling with some challenges.

"Affordable and secure internet coupled with limited electricity connectivity are some of the potential challenges that may compromise defendants' ability to defend themselves virtually," said Justice Wasilwa.

She said virtual courts limit the assessment of non-verbal cues such as the defendants' emotions and eye movements to gauge credibility.

"Additionally, virtual court appearances do not allow for proper detection of signs of torture and ill-treatment of accused persons."

She added: "Virtual courts may also potentially skew the criminal justice system against persons deprived of freedom as they may feel intimidated and lack confidence when they are not able to physically appear before a judge or a magistrate."

She said courts should determine on a needs basis which criminal cases can be held virtually and which ones still require physical court appearances.

She observed that there are potential threats from cyber-attacks that may jeopardise digital technology in courts and compromise the integrity of court proceedings.

"Currently, there is no overarching law that specifically addresses cyber security issues as the Computer and Cybercrime (Amendment) Bill 2021 is yet to be assented to," said Justice Wasilwa.

She noted that the ability of judicial officers and litigants to effectively use the digital technology is another challenge saying "continuous training and capacity building of judicial officers and litigants on Information Communication Technology is needed to ensure seamless delivery of judicial services."

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