KAMPALA -The Judiciary has finalized with installation of eleven sets of Video conferencing equipments courts from various parts of the country.
At the launch ceremony held at Commercial Court in Kampala, Deputy Chief Justice, Richard Buteera revealed, that this is one of the ICT measures which have been adopted by the Judiciary to improve service delivery.
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“According to the testimony we have heard from various key stakeholders, video conferencing has enabled accused persons to attend Court from Prison without being to Court physically.”
He also thanked World Bank Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP) and other partners who have made it possible for Judiciary to acquire these modern equipment.
“With the support from partners , we purchased 28 laptops, 6 of which have been allocated to commercial Division , 10 to family 7 to civil and 1 to Registry research and development. In the same process, 12 desk tops have been procured and distributed effectively.”
Ms. Maureen Kasanje, the Judiciary Under Secretary noted that from financing from the Government of Uganda, they are able to install not more than two sets per financial year and it could have taken them more than five years to acquire such equipment.
“They also supported the integration of the Electronic case Management information system with the National lands system, they supported procurement of furniture in the land Division , we had just procured a whole floor after the appointment of new Judicial officers.”
Her Worship, Pamela Ocaya, the Chief Registrar noted that the use of video conferencing equipment brings Court closer to people and Judiciary together with it’s partners like World Bank are working tirelessly to have all courts across the country automated.
“The eleven sets we are launching today are great enabler in delivering Justice to the people of Uganda through automation. It’s now our responsibility to utilize the system fully to deliver the much needed justice.” She added
Mr. Robert Kirunda , one of the Advocates who have used the system in their cases before commercial Court Division, commended Judiciary for this innovation which has helped them to cut down on their operational costs.
“I had a case before Justice Stephen Mubiru, I was going to United States of America (USA) for some years , the case had to continue and I had no time to brief the new advocate to take over the matter.”
He added that he was granted an opportunity to have the case heard via Video conferencing, which helped him to finalize the case from America without any interference.
The representatives from various courts where the equipments were installed, were happy for the innovation which seems to save litigants time spent in traffic jam coming to court , as well as other expenses, but asked the stakeholders to improve on a number of things to make the system more prominent.
Among the challenges pointed out was unstable internet in some parts of the country at a given time, Advocates who are not willing to go digital , negative perception among the general public and high Internet costs.
To solve this, the stakeholders advised the need for more sensitization of both advocates and citizens about proper use of the equipment, install blinders in court premises for easy view of the screens by everyone , installation of more equipment in all courts and many others.
