Manual forms of communication within Courts to phased out soon – CJN

FOLLOWING the formal presentation of the legal email system, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen on Friday said the manual forms of communication within the Nigerian Courts will soon be phased out.

Speaking during the presentation of the legal email system and the newly retrofitted court yesterday at the Supreme Court,  Justice Onnoghen said lawyers who have acquired the legal email can now communicate electronically with courts and each other, pointing out that the system will become mandatory by July 16, 2018.

“The Supreme Court will only serve processes by electronic means (Legal Email) on all matters, hence, all new filings from 16th July 2018 must bear Counsel’s legal email address”, he said.

Justice Onnoghen who is also the chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), said the Nigerian Judiciary will remain committed to employing cutting-edge technology to enhance justice administration and added that, the legal email system is a milestone achievement in the quest to enhance justice delivery in the country.The legal email system, the CJN said, will serve as a means of communication between Judges, Court staff and lawyers, as well as between lawyers, thereby enabling the exchange of information electronically within the judicial ecosystem.

Justice Onnoghen implored all Judges and Lawyers to subscribe to, and acquire the legal email, as manual forms of communication within the Nigerian Courts will soon be phased out.

To ensure compliance, he said, all heads of courts should acquire the legal email addresses for their courts from the Judicial Information Technology Policy Committee (JITPO-COM), especially for their litigation department staff.

The CJN encouraged all courts to start using the email for serving lawyers and added also that communication between the various judicial bodies will soon be through the official email system only.

He urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to drive the adoption of the legal email system to enable full operation within the stipulated period.

He said, in the quest to automate the country’s judiciary, “We have developed and deployed the Nigerian Case Management System (NCMS) software”, which he said is the backbone of the court automation project in Nigeria.

He said the NCMS has attracted the interest from other countries, resulting in the official visit of five Chief Justices of the Caribbean countries to Nigeria in 2016 and also led to the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Nigerian judiciary to provide assistance.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of the Judicial Information Technology Committee, Justice Kashim Zannah said the National Judicial Policy creates for the judiciary a charter of commitment to promote and ensure the highest possible standards.

According to him, the thrust of the judicial information technology policy is to develop and ensure an integrated platform for the automation of Nigerian courts and the justice system.

He said the policy seeks to avoid the challenges faced by other nations, of belatedly struggling to integrate disparate systems implemented by other courts and other actors in the justice sector.

Justice Zannah warned courts to avoid spending on court technology without proper guidance, adding that the NJC is on the ground to render guidance.