THE Judicial Service Commission says it will begin implementing the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS), which will see the Labour Court going paperless by month-end.
Trade unionists, labour officers and members of the National Employment Councils have already been trained on the new programme.
IECMS is a web-based court case management system that automates and tracks all aspects of case life cycles, from initial filing through disposition and appeal. It is expected to be operational in labour and administrative courts on February 1, 2023.
“Our labour court and administrative courts are going digital from February 1, 2023. We are almost done and we are trying to make sure that everyone is prepared for the second phase of IEMCS,” JSC spokesperson Daniel Nemukuyu said during a training workshop held in Harare yesterday.
The first phase of the system was implemented last year at the Constitutional Court, the Labour Court and the Commercial Court.
“We are going to have four phases...after that, we move to the High Court and the office of the Sheriff which will be the third phase. And the fourth and final phase will be the magistrates courts, it's a big constituency.”
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Nemukuyu said phase two and three of the project were expected to be completed before the end of the year.
Secretary-general for the Medical Professional and Allied Workers Union Tecla Darangwe said: “As Zimbabwe, we were backwards in terms of technology. The introduction of e-filing has brought some changes, for instance you can easily file your court applications wherever you are, and also it has addressed the issue of accessing your cases from wherever you are.”
Trade unionist Tawanda Mupeti added: “The system was long overdue. At the Labour Court, you would be told that files are not found and when they are found some pages would be missing. Cases were also taking too long, and as a result, workers would tend to lose hope fearing that their cases might collapse.”
Secretary-general for the National Employment Council Brickmaking and Clay Products, Tendai Makavani said: “After COVID-19 we realised that not having a digital system stalled most of our work because the court could not proceed.
“This new system will make life easier for us because from the click of a button you can file cases as well as track down your cases and attend virtual courts.”
IECMS will link various courts in Zimbabwe electronically and also offer an integration platform for stakeholders such as the police, National Prosecuting Authority, Attorney-General’s Office, Registrar-General’s Office and Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, among others.