The Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny - Dollo addressing participants at the meeting
The Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny - Dollo said the Judiciary will carry on with the Electronic Court Case Management Information System(ECCMIS) because it is unavoidable.
ECCMIS is a fully-featured system that automates and tracks all aspects of a case lifecycle from initial filing through disposition and appeal as to each individual party for any case type.
The Chief Justice said this while presiding over the system's second review meeting at the Judiciary Headquarters, Kampala.
The meeting was to assess progress, discuss key achievements, address challenges, and strategize for the future roll-out of ECCMIS.
The Chief Justice reiterated that ECCMIS was here to stay and that there was no need to go backwards. He instead urged them to move consciously with continuous training on ECCMIS, including during judicial officers' induction.
He commended the rolesplayed by different stakeholders for the success of the System so far,including the publicity campaigns by the Registry of Communications and PublicRelations.
Mr Joseph Ssinabulya,the Principal Information Management Officer and Project Manager for ECCMIS inhis status report indicated an increased in non-tax revenue (filing fees), casefilings, use of e-payment methods as well as ECCMIS users and user logins.
Some of the challenges cited included resistance to change, inconsistent power and internet supply, lack of ICT equipment to use, absence of priority functionality for cases such as interim orders and temporary injunctions as well as limited ICT skills.
Court of Appeal Justice, Hon. Justice Fredrick Egonda-Ntende, who doubles as the Chairperson ECCMIS Steering Committee, discussed the rollout plans for Phase I courts, its key achievements, challenges, possible solutions, lessons learnt and best practices to be adopted through feedback from those attending physically and online.
Dr Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Judiciary informed the participants that a total of eight courts are set to be equipped with solar panels. He said priority would be given to courts where ECCMIS is and will be rolled out. On digitization, he noted that there is equipment but manpower is being sought to work on the rest of the process given the shortage of funds due to budget cuts.
"We have the will to support ECCMIS but we must have the courage to suspend certain activities under ECCMIS as a result of limited funding due to budget cuts," he said.
The President Uganda Law Society, Mr Bernard Oundo, appreciated the Judiciary administration for the job well done. That notwithstanding, he raised a number of issues from the ULSECCMIS Committee including the need to have a legal framework to back up the actions of the System. In addition, increase human resource to ease authentication and validation steps, where the biggest challenge on the System lies.
Issues Raised
Concerns raised included the possibility of Judicial Offices working outside normal working hours on the system, reviewing the rights of the different officers. Delayed notifications especially emails, access to lower court records especially from courts that are not rolled out yet and implementation of reminders about the business rules were the other concerns raised.
It was agreed that the implementation of Cluster II Courts be delayed until the rules of procedure are in place, solar panel power sources installed in operating and next phase courts. The others being working with NITA-U for reliable and stable internet supply, improve reliability in terms of reminders through emails, notifications and SMS.
The need for more human resource capital to help on certain system tasks, judicial officers 'constant supervision of courts, continuous engagements were also emphasized.
The meeting drew participation from different Ministries Departments and Agencies as well as advocates most of whom participated online.
Posted 19th, September 2023
