The government has approved the second phase of the e-court system with a budget of RM30 million aimed at digitising the court system to also cover criminal cases, as well as the implementation of an e-bidding system which would be more transparent.

Furthermore, the new e-court system would be integrated with seven government departments that among others include the police, the Road Transport Department, Prisons Department, the Immigration Department, Land and Mines Department, the National Registration Department and the Insolvency Department to enhance the implementation of a court order.

The company Omesti Bhd is being given the task to have the system in place not only in Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya but also in 20 major courts throughout the country. It would also develop an application system for lawyers to access the cases by using their handphones.

The implementation of information technology in the court system has already seen a 50 percent reduction in the backlog of cases.

Director-general of the Legal Affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Zuki Ali said phase I only involved civil cases, and the phase II would also see criminal cases being digitised.

“It would be implemented in five special courts and 20 other courts nationwide and it would be implemented in stages between January this year and July 25, next year,” he said.

“As with the legal maxim justice delayed is justice denied, it is hoped that with the implementation of this system it would help resolve the number of cases filed,” he said.

Zuki said this in his speech during the official launching of the second phase by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria.

Justice Arifin said Phase 1 of the e-court system was first implemented in 2009 in Kuala Lumpur courts as the pilot project, before it was expanded to the Palace of Justice, Shah Alam, Johor Baru, Penang, Ipoh and Kota Baru courts.

He said the second phase would kick off to the Ayer Keroh court in Malacca and other courts nationwide.

“The implementation of the second phase of e-courts is hoped to hasten the disposal of cases in peninsular Malaysia.

“Courts in Kuantan, Ayer Keroh, Alor Setar and Butterworth would now be equipped with the e-filing system which saves time and costs for lawyers,” he said.

The CJ explained that the e-bidding system will replace the open bidding and this would increase the integrity and transparency of the bidding process, which in the past was done manually.

“This would avoid manipulation and leakages in the process of manual bidding, and would hasten the process of debt recovery as well as helping more people to bid for such property,” he said.

More than one million cases filed online

Omesti Bhd chief executive officer Mah Xian Zhen said since e-courts implementation there are more than one million cases filed online and there are more than six million documents filed online.

“A total of 30 Terabytes of data is stored online - and that - as all the IT gurus will tell you - is huge. Incidences of missing files - a major problem in the past - have been eliminated.”

“The backlog of pending cases has seen a dramatic reduction of 375 percent. The time taken for judgment and trial has also been halved, and the average time in the enforcement of judgment has also been dramatically reduced by 450 per cent.

The World Bank, Mah said, has also taken note that following the implementation of the e-courts system, Malaysia’s ranking for enforcing contracts has risen from 60th place to a very impressive 29th place.

She added that under the second phase:

  • A new case management module for civil and criminal cases;
  • A new e-filing module also for civil and criminal; and
  • A mobile application enabling lawyers to conduct searches and perform filing on-the-go.

Also present in the event were Court of Appeal president Justice Md Raus Sharif and Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin.