Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
The Rivers State Judiciary says the introduction of the Rivers State Court Management System RivComis platform has scaled-up justice delivery in the state.
The Chief Judge of Rivers State Justice Adama Iyayi Lamikanra said this during a press briefing to mark one year of Rivers State Court Management System RivComis in Port Harcourt.
Justice ADAMA IYAYI LAMIKANRA represented by the Chief Registrar Rivers State Judiciary Vivienne Kobani-Buzugbe said lawyers, judges, Magistrates can now access their files from the RivComis platform in the past year.
The Chief Judge said cases can be heard virtually since the introduction of the platform.
She said the public can now access, file, and pay for general affidavits from the system.
Lamikanra said the era of manual processing of cases is over and the use of technology has come to stay.
”The last 365 days in the Rivers State Judiciary has been a journey of constant reinvention through automating processes and activities directed towards improved dispensation of justice. The journey has been eventful with a lot of positive feedbacks and a number of areas left for improvement”.
”All over the world, one common feature of the Justice administration is the delay in justice delivery. The consequences are far-reaching as people have often resorted to self-help and jungle justice. Nigeria’s justice administration is not an exemption. Most of the laws and rules that govern the processes that are used in our courts today date back to the pre-independence era. They are analogue and require human intrusion to achieve the desired intention towards quality justice administration”.
”More than ever before, the pandemic revealed most of the inadequacies of the manual system and informed how the use of technology can greatly improve the access to justice and speed up the delivery of same. These issues prompted the needed impetus for us to embark on the audacious journey of automating the Rivers State Judiciary” she said.
Justice Adama Iyayi Lamikanra also listed some of the achievements of the platform to include Virtual / Remote Court Hearing, issuing of e-Affidavits, Migration of Old cases, and Deployment of Hardware, Local Area Network & Internet Bandwidth in magistrate and High courts in Rivers State.
The Chief Judge also listed the courtroom technology with verbatim reporting system as other achievements recorded during the period.
She said the system has been deployed in two pilot courts to help the Judges effectively record proceedings without the brunt of writing in longhand.
Speaking further, she revealed that over 500 laptops have been distributed in magistrate and High courts in Rivers State
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on ICT Asawo Ibifuro said the RivCOMIS has reduced cases of quackery in the judicial system.
Asawo Ibifuro also asked lawyers in the State to embrace ICT to enable them to use the platform effectively.
He said the platform is very easy to use for lawyers and judges.
Asawo added that the few challenges being experienced at the platform.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on ICT also said that the e-affidavits being issued by the Rivers State Judiciary has given a lot of credibility to the process.
He noted that most organizations like banks, diplomats, and foreign institutions can now check the affidavits online to verify anyone’s claim.
According to Asawo, he revealed that another round of training will be conducted for lawyers and other intending users by the end of March.
He said the training will last till April.
Furthermore, he said that the State Judiciary will on March 16th offer a free administration charge for every case filled on the platform as part of ways to mark the one-year anniversary of RivComis.
