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Ondo judiciary begins implementation of court automation

By Joseph Onyekwere
28 July 2020   |   4:12 am
To beat the restriction against large gatherings, occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, the Ondo State Judiciary has started to deploy technology to ensure that nothing stalls justice delivery.

Olugasa

To beat the restriction against large gatherings, occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, the Ondo State Judiciary has started to deploy technology to ensure that nothing stalls justice delivery.

This, it said, was done, as physical court sittings may not be feasible in the foreseeable future.

Performed through its partnership with LawPavilion Business Solutions, the state has become the first in Nigeria to make her Electronic Registry (E-Registry) fully automated.

The E-registry, which it said is seamless, can be used by litigants, their counsel and court officials.

“In times past, physical filing could take several hours, but with E-registry, filing can now be done in the twinkle of an eye; and what is more, the E-registry is web based and can be accessed anywhere. To this end, litigants and their counsel can now file their processes in the comfort of their homes, anywhere and at any time.

“Through Robotic Process Automation in the E-registry, the filing of court processes has been fully automated with all the necessary features to allow for an end-to-end e-filing. Chief among the essence of the E-registry is that it has provided solutions to most of the challenges plaguing e-filing and remote hearing in Nigeria before now.

“For instance, the E-registry has been automated with the necessary filing fees to allow for a quick and effective filing process. The counsel or the litigant can have their processes assessed, pay the assessed filing fee and proceed to actually file their processes all on the same platform and within the twinkle of an eye,” said Mr. Ope Olugasa, the managing director of LawPavilion.

According to him, those filed processes are also automatically synced into the court’s record. This, he said, is the future of justice delivery – the new normal, which has come to stay.

His words: “This novel programme will commence with the publication of Practice Direction on e-filing on the judiciary website, while e-filing and remote hearing will be launched on July 29, 2020 with dignitaries led by the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, judges and other stakeholders in the justice sector in attendance.

“This will be followed by a live demonstration on remote hearing at 9:00am on July 30, 2020. Arrangements are being put in place for the Bar and Bench to be guided through the process in order to ensure a seamless e-process.”

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