All in a click: LHC’s automated system a godsend for litigants

Court cases and workflow will now be scheduled in new management system

LAHORE: It seems that prayers or litigants and court staff have been answered as there is now an automated system to help deal with the plethora of cases filed at the Lahore High Court.

The Enterprise Caseflow Management System (ECMS) has finally seen the light of day and is up and running, said Lahore High Court Additional Registrar (IT) Muhammad Jamal. The system’s objective is to help schedule cases, workflow, issuing of notices and make case histories accessible. Most importantly, it will ensure that the right case is fixed before the appropriate judge.

The system has been prepared to remove chances of human intervention and to ensure automated case flow is end-to-end, the additional registrar said.

The ECMS, he added, is functioning at the LHC’s Principal Seat and will spread to the allied benches. Ultimately, the system will trickle down to the district judiciary of the province, he said.

Integrated with NADRA, the police and Supreme Court, the ECMS has the capacity to verify cards and FIRs. It will allow the court to verify if a counsel is actually occupied if he or she requests an adjournment on the pretext of being engaged at the SC, Jamal said. “Not only this, the ECMS will also help assess the performance of judges.”

This software is prepared with the cooperation of PITB which has put two of its officers at the disposal of the LHC to make the automated system a success.

The ECMS is born out of the understanding that law is a serious subject and getting relevant results in the shortest possible time is essential, said PITB Chairman Dr Umar Saif. “Judgments of all cases will be available at a single click,” he added.

No change of hearing date will be possible, as used to be commonplace in the past, while bold and radical changes will ensure transparency, efficiency and timely disposal of cases. He confirmed the system will extend to the district and session courts in the next phase.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said the unanimous approach by all stakeholders has paved the way for reforms in the judicial system through technology. “The paradigm shift in the judicial system will prove to be a game-changer and can further strengthen the institution,” the CJ said.

With the introduction of new system, a physical file audit will begin to send data to the new system as there were 1.3 million cases pending at district courts and 134,000 at the HC.

The cases are put in five categories including civil, writ, commercial, criminal and taxation/banking. To ensure the automatic fixation of cases before the relevant bench, these categories are further defined in about 800 subcategories. Special benches are formed to deal with each of them.

When a case is put into the record, the system will automatically refer the matter to the judge concerned, keeping in view the workload. As soon as a case is fixed before the judge, an SMS will automatically be sent to the lawyer and litigants with the relevant information.

The system also puts a flag on the cause list of cases involving senior citizens, women, foreigners or delayed cases so that judges could deal with those matters on a priority basis.

Once the software is fully integrated, the court associate will be able to print a barcode bearing the order sheet and this will put an end to forged documents.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2017.