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• Police and courts in video link-up
• High Court-prison links

©The Star (Used by permission)

KUCHING: The Bar Council will push for the implementation of a digital court system in the peninsula, said its president Ambiga Sreenevasan.

She said the council was concerned with the slow progress made even though the contract for the system had been awarded some time ago.

Impressed with the digital court system at the Courthouse Complex here yesterday, Ambiga said: “It is quite amazing.” 

She and several council members followed the live court proceedings conducted by High Court Judge David Wong Dak Wah via video-conferencing with Sibu and Miri courts.

Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, the prime mover of the digital court system, was also present.

Sarawak was the first state to introduce the multimedia/ videoconferencing, short messaging and file tracking system for the Kuching, Sibu and Miri courts.

The digital court system, which was launched by Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim six months ago, is a pilot project carried out by state-owned Sarawak Infor-mation Systems Sdn Bhd (Sains).

With the multimedia/videoconference facilities, a lawyer will not be required to travel to attend outstation cases for interlocutory hearings here and in Sibu and Miri.

The SMS system is used to notify and remind lawyers on the status of their cases, such as last-minute court hearing rescheduling.

With the file tracking system, the court will be able to keep track of the whereabouts of each individual file, thus addressing the problem of misplaced files.

Ambiga saw great benefits in the digital court system, saying it not only saved time and cost for lawyers but also reduced delays caused by misplaced files.

Sains chief executive officer Teo Tien Hong said the company would implement a similar system for the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya.

Malanjum later told a press conference that criminal suspects in police lock-ups may not have to be produced in court for remand applications if a plan by the state Judiciary Department worked out.

A suspect would appear before the court through the multimedia/teleconferencing facility while it hears the remand application.

”The digital court system is there already. It is a matter of linking it up with the police and prison departments,” he added.

Malanjum said a similar multimedia/videoconferencing system was being implemented in Sabah, and it was expected to be operational by early December.

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