Enhancing access to justice

Dear Editor,

This millennium brought “access to justice” front and center in the minds of those considering democracy and rule of law.

Access to Justice is encompassed in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.

In 2018, the Task Force on Justice reported that worldwide, 1.5 billion people felt that their justice needs are not being met and 5.1 billion people lack meaningful access to justice.

The chief justice of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Sir Brian Moree, recently gave a public account of the progress of the “Reform and Modernization Program”.

He echoed the position of many worldwide chief justices, ministers of justice and thought leaders that, “a functioning, efficient, fair and effective court system anchored in the rule of law and based on open access to justice, is essential to the establishment, development and sustainability of a peaceful, civilized and cohesive society in a democratic country”.

Also given was a strong reminder that “the judiciary is not a government department or a ministry”. Like other chief justices, he implored the recognition that the judiciary must be properly resourced.

In 2020, I have had the honor of speaking at many conferences on people centered justice, two pillars of which are, using technology for access and efficiency, and innovation in providing new systems for people centered justice.

During the chief justice’s tenure, already The Bahamas is moving in the right direction, for example, electronic appointments, electronic filing of court documents, electronic forms and electronic hearings are now the norm.

New personnel appointments were announced to buttress the modernization thrust.

The following, among others, were also announced:

1. A Bail Management System, which will “improve efficiencies, expedite the process and provide enhanced reporting and monitoring capabilities”.

2. An Integrated Case Management System has been chosen to transform the delivery of court services.

3. A Digitization Project to eliminate the inefficient paper system, and enable data sharing, migration of court documents, facilitate case management and provide analytics and data to measure efficiency, productivity and give data as will enable data based decisions to be made.

4. A Court Automated Payment System – which will transform the payments system in the Magistrates Court. People will be able to make and receive payments using mobile devices.

5. A Digital Recording System to work in conjunction with the Court Reporting System.

These initiatives and those to come will transform and make justice more accessible.

These transformative measures directly and positively impact people.

The payments system means that court ordered payments, such as maintenance payments, can be made electronically by someone in Abaco (the northernmost Island), and received electronically by someone in Inagua (the southernmost Island).

No longer will either need to come to New Providence to deposit and withdraw payments. A record of all payments may be retrieved at the click of a mouse.

A director of ICT will accelerate courts having more 21st century technology.

Imagine a system where witnesses in matters may routinely give evidence by videoconference. They no longer need to travel to Nassau to give evidence.

These savings in time and money are immense.

People on bail will be able to walk in and out of a police station to check in at a kiosk rather than having to wait for someone to bring a book for them to sign.

Data will be available at the click of a mouse.

The electronic case management system will expedite hearings because matters will, from start to finish, be in an electronic case management system, where information can be shared across platforms.

Now, as well as regular reporting to the people by the chief justice, information about the courts is available on a user friendly website and judgments readily available to all stakeholders.

These are only some examples of the people centered impact of the measures.

The net effect of these measures will be greater confidence and trust in the system as people feel that, in The Bahamas, access to justice is alive and well.

As well, the ease of doing business index should increase as investors feel the efficiencies in the system. Investors invest more when they know that resolution of disputes is rapid.

Undoubtedly, the chief justice is committed to transformative measures. These measures should encourage private sector IT innovators, non traditional justice providers and systems specialists to create new scalable solutions to our justice challenges.

I think we can all agree that we’re on the right track and moving, impactfully, in the right direction.

— Allyson Maynard-Gibson

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