JSC goes paperless at Mwenezi Magistrates Court

JSC goes paperless at Mwenezi Magistrates Court

Mako Jerera

The third phase of the new Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS), which covers the Sheriff of the High and the General Division of the High Court Court, has been implemented at Mwenezi
Magistrate Court.

IECMS is a web system that automates and tracks all aspects of the case life cycle. It captures the cases’ initial filling through deposition and appeal.

In Mwenezi, the training of lawyers and other stakeholders, which include trade unionists in the Labour Court and the Administrative Court, is underway.

Last year, JSC introduced the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS), which digitised the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and Commercial Court with the Labour Court and the Administrative Court being expected to be paperless this coming month.

The development is part of the digital revolution in the judiciary, police services, prisons and correctional services which will see the required information, documents and dockets moving through the judicial system without delays and other systems to improve law enforcement.

The Magistrate at Mwenezi District Court Mr. Kudzanai Manyika in an interview, explained that the process was aligned with the government’s goal of e-governance in the NDS1 of inclusiveness, diversity, and adopting new technologies in e-filling.

“The Court in Mwenezi now has an e-filing system that is fully functional,” he said.

Stakeholders that attended the training held recently at Mwenezi Magistrate Court appealed to them to pass information to the public and its employees in the various departments.

The stakeholders at the training and launch of Phase Three were Judicial Officers, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service, Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, and Chiefs representing members of the public and business people.

Mr. Kudzanai Manyika added that gadgets required to file cases are a computer laptop or smartphone, internet connectivity, a valid e-mail address, an electronic signature pad or touch facility, and legal documents.

“To register, you will need to connect your device to the internet, open the browser, type www.zimiecms.org.zw, enter all the relevant registration information, and continue to follow all the instructions. A plaintiff, lawyer, judge or magistrate, and defendant can attend a court session from the remand prison or any location through a smartphone, tablet, or computer.”

In preparation for phase four, Mr Manyika highlighted that there is an E-filling office that is now at Mwenezi Magistrate Court which was complimented by stakeholders from the police and prison service as a system that saves resources such as fuel, reduction in delays of judgements, and keeping of records at one central centre.