– after six-month pilot later this year
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh announced the introduction of a digital speech recording system in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal later this year as part of a pilot project set to run for six months.
The new project will be evaluated six months after implementation to determine the feasibility of rolling it out countrywide, according to Singh, who made the disclosure during his budget presentation last week. He said the aim is to significantly reduce the time taken to record evidence in court.
This year $1.7 billion has been budgeted for the justice sector with a considerable amount going to reform measures. Singh said government will advance the modernization programme currently ongoing in the sector, noting that emphasis would be placed on mediation and cutting the sizeable backlog of cases in the system in addition to the construction of new courts countrywide.
According to him, around 5,500 cases of the backlog will be disposed of in 2010. Singh also mentioned that the Time Limit for Judicial Decisions Act, which was passed in 2009, is expected to contribute further to timely conclusion of matters before the court.
Of the sum budgeted for the sector in 2010, $322.5 million have been set aside for the implementation of several reform measures including a strategic plan for mediation as well as mediation referral guidelines, which are being developed and are expected to be completed and implemented. He explained the plan is intended to reduce the excessive number of cases that are filed in the High Court as well as the number of cases requiring adjudication by a judge.
Some $121.8 million have been budgeted for the construction and maintenance of courts countrywide. Singh said that a slice of this amount, around $45.9 million will go towards the completion of the first ever Family Court later this year. The Family Court, which is under construction in the compound of the Supreme Court, will deal with issues such as divorce, division of property, domestic matters, adoption, guardianship and custody.
With respect to existing courts, $26 million have been budgeted for the construction of a Magistrate’s Court and office at Lethem; $19.3 million for the completion of the Charity and Leonora Magistrates’ Courts and a further $27.2 million would be spent on the maintenance of the High Court and remaining Magistrates’ Courts.
The minister also referred to the provisions for the sector last year saying that over $1.4 billion was spent in 2009.
He said around $248 million went to enhancing the efficiency of the process for dealing with criminal and civil cases within the system. According to Singh, a total of 4,612 cases were disposed of last year.
He said too that an action plan for the strengthening of the functional and operational relationship between the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Police was completed and over 45 state and police prosecutors were trained in detecting evidentiary weaknesses in cases.
In addition, draft guidelines for the Civil Procedures Rules were completed and circulated to judges for their views.
The new rules will place stronger emphasis on time management of cases, case conferences and mediation, he said.
