Judiciary Digitization Process to Hasten Cases and Keep Integrity

The judiciary is currently at an advanced stage of digitizing all their operations, which Chief Justice David Maraga says will not only hasten the hearing of cases but also keep the integrity of the cases.

According to Chief Justice Maraga, cases have long been recorded in paper form, making them prone to destruction or loss of records and exhibits.

He said that the judiciary has been facing challenges of lost records as a result of collusion between parties involved in cases and judiciary staff.

The CJ said that in an effort to realize the judiciary digitization process, 400 million shillings has been set aside for the same, and all Supreme Court proceedings automated, with the court of appeal coming next.

“Our records are mostly recorded on paper so we need a lot of space especially in cases of petitions. But with this digitization programs, a judge will hasten the process of judgement since they can always download the needed documents and write judgements at the comfort of their homes,” said the CJ during a workshop on cybercrime and electronic evidence at Radisson Blu Hotel, Nairobi.

The workshop, organized by the Attorney-Generals Alliance (AGA) Africa Alliance Partnership in collaboration with the Judiciary Training Institute was meant to train Kenyan judges.

READ ALSO: Kenyan Judiciary Transformative Agenda in the Past Five Years 

AGA-AAP provides a platform where ideas are exchanged and awareness of global concerns relating to transnational capacity building as well as promoting the rule of law to the African legal professionals is raised.

The CJ emphasized the importance of having all government institutions go digital, saying that by the end of the year, the judiciary will have made commendable progress.

Also present at the workshop was Markus Green, an AGA-AAP board member, who said that many Kenyans are exposed to cybercrimes due to lack of smart cybersecurity strategies while operating the internet, besides the ever-growing transformation of cybercriminals.

“In 2017 world cybersecurity index, cybercrime attacks costed Kenya 21 billion shillings. There is need to train judges so that they will have an understanding of how to gather cybercrime evidence and deliver justice in such cases,” said Mr. Green.

READ ALSO: UN Survey Places Kenyan Internet Users at Highest Risk of Cyber Attacks