Kiambu County has joined five other counties namely Nairobi, Mombasa, Siaya, Kisumu and Homa Bay counties on the migration from manual filling to e-filing.
According to the Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, Justice Martha Koome, the Judiciary wants to ensure that all court stations in the country are on board to the e-filing platform by next year February 2024.
Speaking today when she officially launched e-filling for Kiambu County at the Kiambu Law Courts, the CJ said it was a significant milestone in the Kenyan Judiciary automation and digitization agenda even as they continue to leverage technology to drive their quest for efficiency in processes and in the delivery of justice.
“We are clear that this digitization exercise should be well grounded, stakeholder-driven and customer service oriented since in the past week, we have undertaken a test-run in the eight Court Stations namely Kiambu, Githunguri, Gatundu, Kahawa, Limuru, Ruiru, Thika, and Kikuyu court stations,” Koome added.
From Monday till yesterday evening, the CJ noted that Litigants, Advocates and the ODPP have all successfully filed both civil and criminal cases matter online in all these court stations.
Acknowledging that there still remain challenges to the optimal performance of virtual courts with regards to the concerns around the functionality of the systems and stability of the internet and other teething problems, Koome assured Litigants and the Bar that they are actively working on ways to resolve such problems.
She said that the aspect of technology that is driving the judiciary quest for digital excellence is the Case Tracking System (CTS) which enables them to track the entire details of a case from initiation to disposition.
“The CTS has been progressively rolled out and operationalized across all courts and tribunals and has had a tremendous impact on the management of court processes at the registries and enabled tracking and managing court cases in real time
The CTC automated registry operations include processes like case registration, fee assessment, cause list preparation, court order generation and performance reports including file perusal enabling decongestion of court registries as most services can be accessed online.
Koome called upon legal practitioners and litigants to familiarize themselves with the e-filing system and to use it to its fullest potential.
Governor Kimani Wamatangi said that the adoption of new technology can be accelerated to improve the efficiency of the justice system, saying the e-filing launch is timely and a major milestone towards the realization of the Judiciary’s vision of “Social Transformation through Access to Justice” in the country.
He specifically said Kiambu County courts that handle the majority of cases that emanate from the Nairobi Metropolitan area and neighboring regions saying the automation and digitization of court services will go a long way.
“Kiambu County has over the years collaborated with the Judiciary in various aspects and the Thika Small Claims Court that is today fully operational and dispenses with cases below the value of Sh 1million within sixty days and also the specialized environment and land court also in Thika have been a game change from their establishment and inception thus making justice accessible , affordable and timely,” he said
Wamatangi termed the Court Users Committees (CUCs) as another win for Kiambu County as they have helped to impact the citizens by encouraging continuous public participation and stakeholder engagement and a forum that creates a platform that brings home justice while removing the chain of bureaucracy.
During the event, Wamatangi has allocated a 2-acre piece of land to the Judiciary in Kiambu, just near the law courts as well as embarked on the process of allocating 5 acres of land to the Thika law courts
“This collaboration and partnership will go a long way in ensuring expansion of Judiciary infrastructure in the County of Kiambu. We in Kiambu County will endeavor to uphold the rule of law and aspire to respect the values and principles of the Constitution,” the Governor said .
The Kiambu High Court which was established on 20/06/2016. By transitioning to an electronic filing system, the Law Courts will reduce the need for physical document storage.
By Wangari Ndirangu
