Part 1 of this article, published originally in The Court Administrator of the International Association for Court Administration, introduced an approach focused on those served by courts instead of those who “run” them – judicial officers, court administrators, and other officials. It discussed the role of technology in achieving this focus in general terms.

In Part 2, we focus on the functionality of Rwanda’s Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS), the Judiciary Performance Management (JPMS), and the mechanics of converting data tracking, performance measurement and management to service delivery outcomes in Rwanda. We will describe how technology enables daily improvements in service delivery to achieve people-centered justice.

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In Part 1 of this series, the authors discuss people-centred justice focusing on those served by courts instead of those who “run” them – judicial o­fficers, court administrators, and other o­fficials. This is the first of a two-part article that discusses the role of technology in achieving this focus, published originally in The Court Administrator of the International Association for Court Administration. 

What is people-centred justice?

People-centred justice is an approach to international justice that shifts the focus from court rules, procedures, and processes to a results-based focus placing people, families, and communities at the centre of justice service delivery. This requires court administrators to go beyond identifying operational improvements that work best for them, and identify what strategies, activities, and processes produce the best results for the people they serve.

There is today no longer much doubt whether good measures and indicators of court performance can help achieve worthy ends. The question is whose vision of justice and court excellence they advance. Performance standards and measures for courts are meaningless if they are detached from the people they are intended to represent. Though they may be grounded in historical understanding, democratic vision, and civic ideals, government performance measures are traditionally developed from the perspectives of government managers, not of citizens, and the two perspectives may differ greatly.

How Rwanda achieves this?

Rwanda is a regional leader in people-centered justice, with a strong and developing culture of Performance Measurement and Management. This has been achieved through a strategic planning process based on country vision, international standards, and the expectations of the Rwandan people. It has been enabled through the implementation of advanced technology for data collection, analysis, and reporting, as well as a learning culture that quickly adapts and applies lessons learned.

In the article, the authors identify key approaches, based on their experience in Rwanda and elsewhere, that will align the practice of court performance measurement and management with the values and principles of people-centred justice.

Read the article without signing up. Learn more about adapting to people-centred justice through technology improvement.

In October 2021, the Judiciary of Uganda officially commissioned the Electronic Court Case Management Information System (EECMIS), a solution built from Synergy’s eCase product.

From 2019-2021, Synergy has been working to design, develop, and roll-out the system in close collaboration with the Judiciary. The system digitizes all aspects of case management, starting at registration, proceeding through case assignment, hearing, and judgement, and provides a full suite of analytical features and online auction.

Synergy’s Vice President Adam Watson attended the launch of the EECMIS. The system will also reduce contact between the litigating public and court staff, thus supporting an independent judiciary and justice sector.  Starting in early 2022, the system will be piloted in 18 courts around the country including the Magistrates Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo hosted the official commissioning of the EECMIS and said at the launch event:

Synergy International Systems, Inc. and Zimbabwe’s Judicial Service Commission are working together to build an Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS). The system will provide a digitized and accessible public service to improve communication between the judiciary and the public.

Synergy partners with Zimbabwe’s Judicial Service Commission to start the digital transformation of the country’s judiciary enhancing access to justice for all.

Synergy International Systems and Zimbabwe’s Judicial Service Commission will work together to promote the adoption of new technologies and skills development across the judiciary and law society. Synergy, as the technology provider, will design and implement an integrated case management system to support the Judicial Service Commission in its mission to become paperless.

In December 2020, the Judicial Service Commission involved Synergy as a technology partner in an attempt to provide a more accessible and digitized public service and improve easy communication between the judiciary and public.

Amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, both private and governmental law and justice operations are being negatively impacted. Countries and states are forced into quarantine and are adapting their methods of citizen engagement, looking for ways to continue to provide services to the public and not suspend their entire operations.

It is in extreme situations and crisis circumstances such as this, when face to face interactions are limited (or in some cases even prohibited), that the power of technology can be appreciated from a new perspective. While electronic Case Management Systems were originally designed to help governments improve efficiency and combat corruption, in times of crisis the systems display their full value: they support continuity in electronic business processes, enabling social distancing for a subset of their operations that otherwise would have been suspended.

As courts and other justice institutions worldwide are trying to identify new ways to continue their operations, the ones who are already employing electronic Case Management Systems have the option of not shutting down their institutions entirely. Even though some operations are being halted, for instance case hearings and pre-trial meetings, governments that have invested in these systems are now reaping their unforeseen benefits. Those courts and other justice institutions that have moved their services online are able to maintain a base level of functioning and can continue reaching out to their citizens.