Justice now possible at touch of a button

E-TRANSFORMATION initiatives are making it possible to mete out justice at the touch of a button.

New procedures, including the integration of e-services, have helped speed up court proceedings, according to Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa.

He was speaking during a virtual Press briefing organised by the National Communication Centre (NCC) yesterday.

Providing details, the minister said more than 1.8 million transactions were completed through the ministry’s website last year.

Of these, 1.3m transactions were done by the enforcement courts (courts that carry out the rulings), followed by 471,187 legal services, 35,702 authorisation procedures, 26,774 transactions were completed for minors services and 11,759 licensing procedures were done through e-services.

Shaikh Khalid said technology had made it easier for people to interact with courts, adding that at some point in the future lawyers may not have to attend court proceedings and can be “present in court” virtually.

“Nowadays people can file cases and lawyers can submit their final arguments at the Civil, Administrative and Sharia Courts and all its degrees,” he said.

“There are special applications set up for these courts which operate without the need for physical documents.

“Technology has made it much easier for everyone dealing with the courts and the integration of e-services has expedited court procedures, sometimes from months to just a click of a button.”

The minister described how a person who has a travel ban imposed on him can pay fines online and be allowed to travel immediately.

“Before the introduction of e-services a person with a travel ban faced a lot of difficulties.

“If he was at the airport with his family and found out there was a travel ban imposed on him they would miss their flight and he would have had to go to court.

“However, now people can check online if they have a travel ban and if they do they can pay the fees and travel with their families without any hassle.

“Before, if you wanted to file any Civil, Administrative or Sharia cases you had to visit the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry and try to find parking before 7am.

“The employee then has to check the documents with an expert before the person could pay the fees and receive a receipt after spending a whole day in the ministry.

“Now you can do all this in minutes over the phone or a computer.

“In addition, physical documents took months to prepare and there was the risk of them getting misplaced.

“However, now everything is done swiftly online and is saved in a secure system.

“Lawyers can submit their final arguments and also read other lawyers’ documents online.

“They can submit their request and interact with the judges through the computer.”

He said experts can now be appointed by both parties in Civil or Administrative cases which will speed up court proceedings.

The GDN has previously reported how the online system has provided instant access to court services resulting in a major shift in litigation and ease of court proceedings.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/940751/Justice-now-possible-at-touch-of-a-button