MBABANE – The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Pholile Shakantu has taken further steps to improve access to justice in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Minister Shakantu released a statement about the process of improving the efficiency and integrity of the justice system by developing an software-based Case Management System.
The Minister’s statement reads as follows:
“The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (MoJCA) has initiated the process of developing an enterprise software-based Case Management System that will enable Justice System (JS) stakeholders to effectively and efficiently manage court cases from inception to the end. Specifically, the integrated electronic case management system (IECMS) will automate the current manual JS processes and enable multiple stakeholders to collaborate and exchange information timely so as to eliminate the huge case backlog and operational inefficiencies in the JS.
This process intertwines multiple intricate sub-processes involving several stakeholders participating in numerous activities and interactions between internal and external entities over a period of time.
Stakeholders involved are;
1. Director of Public Prosecution (DPP)
2. Attorney General (AG)
3. Judiciary
4. His Majesty’s Correctional Services
5. Commission on Human Rights and public administration
6. The Royal Swaziland Police
7. Law Society
8. Anti-Corruption Commission
9. Royal Science Technology Park
10. E-Government
To ensure that the implementation of the IECMS project is seamlessly executed, two committees to drive these processes were established namely; the Steering Committee and the Technical Working Group. The Steering Committee is constituted by the Heads of Departments, Controlling Officers and Chief Executive Officers from the above listed stakeholders while the Technical Working Group is comprised of middle and lower management technicians in the field of ICT from the listed stakeholders.
After a rigorous process of tendering to identify a competent consultant to develop the IECMS, Synergy International Systems (SIS) was awarded the contract to develop this system. SIC is a software development and consulting tech company based in the Republic of Armenia and was unanimously found suitable and qualifying applicant for the development of the system. On the 17th August 2022 a meeting was convened between the Synergy International Systems and the Steering Committee Members to kick start the implementation of the IECMS project. The meeting was held at Happy Valley Hotel. SIS has successfully developed Electronic Case Management Systems in many different countries for the past 10 years including, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Guyani, Uganda, Jamaica, to mention a few.
Once the project has been rolled out successfully the following benefits will accrued to the country.
• Improved Reporting which will help improve strategic planning;
• Improve the country’s standing in the world bank Index, which will help draw stakeholders into the country;
• Improved access to justice;
• Reduction of Case backlogs;
• Preservation case files.
The Ministry’s action plan main objectives are to fast – track resolution of cases and improved environment on access to justice as well establishing an integrated system and capacity to prevent and take action against corruption on a national scale in order to improve the international corruption perception index value. Outcome target 2 on the plan of action emphasises on the need to develop a complete and efficient electronic case management system for both the civil and criminal justice systems
Moreover, national development strategies and plan of actions such as the Strategic Road Map 2019 – 2022 prioritises the implementation of the e-Government to centralise data and systems into single solution which will ultimately improve the country’s ease of doing business, the National Development Plan also under strategic goal number 5 underscores the importance of the utilization of e-Government and digital processes to improve service delivery. The implementation of this project will enable Eswatini to keep up with the evolving and emerging technological trends globally.
Honourable Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Pholile Shakantu”
