Chief Justice Bryan Sykes says a proposal for the implementation of an integrated electronic case management framework for the justice system that could cost the Government between US$3 million and US$5 million is to go before Cabinet for approval.

He said it is proposed in order to commence the process of developing and operating the electronic case management system in both the civil and criminal courts.

“The whole idea behind that is to have a case management system [that] links all our courts, all the Parish Courts, the Supreme Court, the Gun Court, the High Court Division of the Gun Court, the Circuit Division of the Gun Court and the Court of Appeal,” Sykes explained.

He shared that he is optimistic that the Cabinet will approve the proposal.

“What that would mean is that we would now get the go-ahead to develop this system, along with our partners in Rwanda. The expectation is that you will have improved efficiency, because you will have less paper moving around [and] you will have reduced instances of missing files,” the island’s top judge said.

“You will have instances, now, where the files can be transferred from one court to another without any loss of time, and what that would mean, and it is important to stress this, is that the staff will be working in a different way,” he added.

The chief justice clarified that the digitisation process is not about reducing the number of employees within the courts.

“Oftentimes when persons hear of digitisation and digitalisation, they think that it is a plan to get rid of them. That is not the plan. It is about changing the way in which we work, using the digital technology that is available to us,” he further stated.

He stressed that the framework will only be used to improve and refine the services of the justice system, so that Jamaicans can get value for their money.