New online services ease court procedures

Manama, May 14 (BNA): New online services have providing instant electronic possibilities to deal with court services have constituted a major shift in litigation and eased court proceedings, the President of the Court of Cassation and Vice President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Abdullah Al Buainain, has said. The services were developed by the Information and e-Government Authority for courts administration and followed up by the Executive Committee headed by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander, and First Deputy Prime Minister, The services will contribute to reducing the time required for rulings in judicial proceedings as they provide immediate and timely information to all parties, including lawyers, individuals and judges, involved in the litigation, he said. The effects will be reflected in improved judicial performance and high quality services through electronic systems that comply with regulatory procedures and laws. The details were revealed during the announcement of the inauguration of the first phase of the court services development project, which includes providing the power of attorney to lawyers, the applications related to legal proceedings, the submission of case notes, expert reports and information about cases. The services are intended to enhance the overall performance, reduce the timeframe for completing transactions and lower the total operational cost by activating the exchange and integration between the courts and references and making it easy and expeditious through the eGovernment portal. In this regard, the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, said that the ministry attaches great importance to supporting the government's approach to the e-transformation process and benefiting from it in developing the services of public sector institutions. The approach eases proceedings before litigants and lawyers and provides integrated packages of electronic services, as part of the ministry's plans to upgrade its services in line with the Government's Action Plan and to achieve Economic Vision 2030. The move is also in line with the outcomes of the Government Forum and the vision of HRH Crown Prince Salman and his initiative on the development of government services, he added. Shaikh Khalid said that the enhancement can be done through the implementation of an integrated programme that features a range of projects, including the development of court management services, which is being implemented in two phases. The minister stressed the importance of the partnership and cooperation between the ministry and the Information and e-Government Authority to serve justice, praising its efforts of and fruitful cooperation which contributed to the implementation of the package of projects. Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, Chief Executive Officer of the Information and eGovernment Authority, said that implementing the Government's directives to develop public services and provide them according to the highest standards of quality while easing their use electronically, is a top priority within the authority's strategy to implement them. This approach reflects the authority’s keenness on providing all forms and manifestations of support to public entities to assist them with their efforts in the process of electronic transformation, he added. Al Qaed expressed his pride in the steady cooperation with the ministry and pointed out the authority's keenness through cooperation to provide innovative solutions and easy electronic services. The electronic services system is designed to save time and efforts while improving performance and efficiency in general, he said. The court services project aims to develop the online system for the management of the courts in an integrated manner with regard to filing lawsuits and presenting applications. It also aims to end the circulation of case file paper documents with all the risks it entails, provide detailed information and make it available to the judges immediately and completely, which should allow making the right decisions while reviewing the lawsuits. The project aims to reduce the number of people physically present at the registration section as they can now fill in their applications electronically. The initiative will put an end to halls being packed with citizens and lawyers inquiring about the case file. All inquiries can now be achieved electronically through SMS and electronic services to shorten time and reduce efforts.