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The Federal Supreme Court launched e-litigation
services that enable members of the public to
litigate their cases through the Internet rather
than going to the Court.
"This is a breakthrough for Ethiopian Courts and it
is a Millennium gift to the people of Ethiopia,"
Zewdineh B Haile (PhD, JSD), an international
consultant, told Fortune.
Zewdineh added that this development makes Ethiopia
the first in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of service
provision.
In the presence of Speaker of the House of
Federation, Degfe Bula, minister of Capacity
Building, Tefera Walwa, and other senior government
officials, as well as members of the business
community, the Supreme Court launched its new
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
service on Friday, August 3, 2007.
In addition to e-litigation, the Court facilitated
web-based services for anyone who may be seeking to
obtain any information before or after the hearing
of cases, unless the, are designated as closed-door
sessions.
The new amendment of the penal-code, full text of
the Constitution, civil and commercial codes as well
as other proclamations are also accessible on the
Website.
The Web-based service will enable the public to
follow the life of trials from the beginning to the
final hearing. It also lays open the number of
appearances made, the duration of cases and the
number of times the hearing adjourned in which the
judges were involved, including the reason to
adjourn the court hearing.
Membere-Tsehay Tadesse, vice president of the
Supreme Court, has high hopes for the changes the
new system may bring.
"The new service would create greater efficiency on
the part of those responsible in discharging public
duties at the Court and it creates an environment
where service seekers and other stakeholders put
pressure; it would be an opportunity to measure the
level of transparency," Membere said.
The Micro Sun and Solution Plc (MSS) developed voice
messaging system that allows the public to access
specific case information on a touch-tone phone was
also launched. The company was paid 350,000 by the
Ethiopian government for the software.
The ICT service launched last week was part of the
1994 effort by the government to realise the Court
Administration Reform Programme (CAR). It was later
included in the Justice Sector Reform Programme (JSRP)
which is a sub-programme of the Public Sector
Capacity Building Programme (PSCAP) conceived in
2005.
Like the case for CAR programme in which the Federal
Supreme Court took the lead to implement, the
introduction of ICT services was also started by the
Supreme Court.
The Court has a history of being a pioneer in
service upgrading. In 2004 when numerous files had
been discovered to disappear, the Court introduced a
colour-coded filing system which had brought a
tremendous improvement in file tracking according to
a study made by a consultant.
In the same year, the Court introduced the Court
Case Management System that made all cases in the
various federal courts available at one centre so
that case progress could be followed from the front
desk. This technology was developed by Biz Soft.
After reviewing the results of technology
implementation, the Supreme Court and the government
embarked to implement the systems in all 721 courts
found across the country.
Last year was another instance for the Court to
bring change as it created the Video Conference
Court. by which judges from the Supreme Courts do
not need to journey to the regions to see cases.
The latest three services developed by MSS will soon
be introduced or implemented by the regional supreme
courts in all other nine regions as well as in the
Dire Dawa Administration, according to Menbertsehay.
"The work we have done at the Court would mean
creating the opportunity for many to generate
revenue, and allows professionals in the IT sector
to invent technology instead of concentrating on
making profit by selling hardware," MSS's CEO, Bluye
Haddis, told Fortune. "Taking the initiative
to do good things and being remembered was our
objective to develop the software, not to make
money, for we would have deserved far more payment
than we are paid for the kind of work we did here."
Since the Supreme Court has the authority to see all
the cases referred to the Court of Cessation from
all the courts around the country, those people
whose cases are to be heard in the Court of
Cessation would attend their cases from where they
are without the need to travel, for the Supreme
Court facilitated access such that the selected
regional courts and specific Internet cafés that
would be permitted can provide the services to the
public and they follow the cases from these cafés.
"I am excited by what I have seen and the courts in
this country have taken a long stride forward," said
Berhanu Getaneh, president of United Bank, on his
comment made on the Website's electronic suggestion
box.
A day before the Supreme Court introduced the new
technology it had launched the evaluation report on
the national Court Reform Programme draft that was
prepared by international consultants Zewdineh B.
Haile and his assistant Wondwosen Shewarega.
According to the report made in the presence of
presidents of the regional supreme courts in the
workshop that took event at Ghion Hotel, "except for
the differences in degree of accomplishment, all
programmes of the reform have been reported and
observed successful."
The evaluation work was financed by the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) and this
evaluation has been conducted by the two consultants
in the Federal Supreme Court and those of the
regional supreme courts in Southern Nations and
Nationality Peoples, Oromia, Amhara and Tigray
regional states.
"The purpose of the evaluation is to capture major
results achieved by the National Expansion Plan to
identify challenges and future intervention areas
donors might focus their support to the justice
sector in context of existing National Justice
System Reform Programme," the draft report
indicated.
The study did, however, cite come common problems
involved in implementation. Delays of service,
lacking trust, accountability, human capital
commitment facilities and communications, amongst
other impediments were cited in the report as
obstacles to realising full functioning.
The fact that police, prosecutors and prison
administrations are all part of the process of the
National Justice Reform Programme meant the reform
did not proceed as fast it should, according to the
study.
"The efficiency and transparency of courts that
started to apply would be pleasant news for everyone
and I believe that it saves service seekers from
inconveniences," a lawyer told Fortune. "All
I would want to confirm now is the independence of
the judiciary."
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