E syariah

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
AND MANAGEMENT –KERALA
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT NO. 2
E-Syariah
(E-COURT SYSTEM OF MALAYSIA)
Submitted by: RAJESH S
PGDeG 2015-16

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE NO
1. Introduction………………………………………….. 1
2. Malaysian Legal System……………………………. 1
3. Evolution of e-Court system in Malaysia…………. 2
4. Objectives of e-Court ……………………………… 2
5. Challenges faced …………………………………… 3
6. Over comings………………………………………. 3
7. Issues faced before Implementation……………… 4
8. After Implementation………………………………. 6
9. Post Implementation Observation…………………. 12
10. Impact of e-Court…………………………………… 13
11. e-Court implementation in India………………….. 14
12. Applicability in India ……………………………… 15
13. Conclusion…………………………………………… 19
14. Reference……………………………………………. 20

1
Introduction
Legal information management is the backbone of an efficient judiciary. Courts of
law depend on the quality of information relating to the case to be able to do
justice to all the parties. In the cases where information and records are not
properly managed, the court of law is unable to make an impartial and all inclusive
quality decision, thus, depriving the aim of judicial institutions to bestow legal
rights to individuals and society.
Malaysian Legal System
Malaysia has two legal systems standing side by side, firstly the Civil legal system
based on English Common Law and statures, and secondly the Shariah legal
system rooted from the Islamic Law. The Civil law system, however, is more
widely recognized and become the mainstream legal system. Its jurisdiction
encompassing all matter, civil and criminal, except on the personal and family
matters which fall under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court by virtue of
Malaysian Federal Constitution. Since English occupation since 1824, the English
Common law and Equity was introduced and implemented in Malaysia. Until
today, most of the Malaysian laws are based on English law statutes. The Civil
court is placed under the administration of Federal government and the Syariah
Court is under the administration of States government.

2
Evolution of e-Court System in Malaysia
The court system in Malaysia has been frequently criticised because of its
dilatoriness in resolving disputes and resulted in back-log of cases. As a result, a
new system known as the E-Court has been introduced. The electronic based court
system emphasized on the use of mechanism which is much faster and efficient.
E-Court was put in place to replace the manual system of all civil courts
operation. Before e-Court come into operation, all business processes from case
registration to case disposal were performed manually. It is not surprising that the
system was replete in inefficiency and ineptitude. With the increased number of
cases being registered, the delay in case management became more critical. A
single case takes years to be settled, resulting in hardship for the parties involved.
The major reason for this delay has been the unavailability of complete
information as and when required. In certain cases not only the information is
incomplete but had been tempered with as well. With the introduction of e-Court,
the government aim to reduce the time taken to settle a case and to manage each
case and related information more efficiently and systematically.
Objectives of e- Court
E-Court project was established with the aims to:
1. Allow on-line case filing to achieve paperless office,
2. Save storage space and human resource,
3. Allow immediate access to documents during trial, and
4. Avoid document counterfeit.

3
Challenges faced
1. The problem of change management (reluctance of judges to use the
technology),
2. Leadership (no enforcement order from the top management),
3. Network facility problem,
4. Budget limitation
5. Access,
6. security
Overcomings
1. Legal Frame work
2. Strong leadership and exertion
3. Allocation of special budget
4. Proper Training
5. Change Management
Fig.1. E-Court System

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The issues faced before e-Court Implementation:
The issues faced before e-Court initiative could be divided into 3 categories i.e.
workflow related issues, people issues and administrative issues.
1) Workflow related issues: - This category describes the issues related to actual
workflow of the courts. These issues posed the major hindrances or
obstacles in way of completing the process efficiently. There are a number
of different dimensions of the problem in this category which are described
below:
a. One particular case is possible to be registered in different
jurisdictions.
b. Case backlog and postponement.
c. Time taken for case registration is very long because court staff needs
to type all information manually.
d. Movement and circulation of physical files could not be controlled
systematically.
e. Certain type of cases took a very long time for disposal due to
inadequate documentations; lawyers purposely delay cases, inability
to acquire certain information from other government departments etc.

5
2) People Issues:-
a. Lack of training for certain expert areas such as records
management and ICTs provided for courts staff.
b. Lack of professional and support staff, lack of appropriately
trained staff and record room, typing.
c. Low level of ICT skills among lawyers and court staff hinders
court to embrace ICTs in their administration.
d. Inadequate number of judges and overall court staff as compared
to the number of cases.
3) Administrative Issues:-
a. Duration for case mention, scheduling, distribution and
adjudication process is normally too long due to the
abovementioned issues and weaknesses.
b. Recording and printing of case decision and court order are not
properly administered. Lack of proper facilities force the court to
take recording in hand writing and the documents to be distributed
to clients need to be typed and printed. This involves redundancy
of work.

6
After the implementation of e-Court
An electronic network and communication between courts are established. The
technologies in place in courts under the E-Court project consist of four modules as
follows:
1) E-Filing system (EFS)
E-filling is an electronic system of filing cases online. The e-Filing
Portal is a one-stop portal for the legal community to gain access to all
its needs ranging from registration of cases, filing of case documents,
retrieval of service document right down to searching of case files and
information including case schedules. Previously lawyers have to call the
registrar for the status of their case filing. Now the e-Filing portal will
send notification of any case filing status to the lawyers' email
immediately upon successful registration in the e-Filing System. E-Filing
was developed following from the need to improve efficiency both for
the legal community and the judiciary. E-Filing allows concurrent access
to case documents, 24 x 7 days a week from anywhere without queuing.
It consists of interactive alerts, notifications and e-mails.

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Fig.2.1. Flow Chart of e-Filing Process
Fig.2.2. E-filing through a service bureau

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2) Queue Management System :
Queue Management System (QMS) is a system that allow the queuing
process of daily court transaction, be made automated a when
lawyers/counsels register their case number in a kiosk system for daily case
management. It is intended to facilitate holding of hearings by registering
the arrival of attorneys, on the day the event is scheduled and letting them
know where they stand in the queue. Once registered at the court, they can
also leave and call in using SMS or texting from their mobile phones to
verify the time they must return for the hearing. Attorneys arriving for a case
management or chambers matter register at the court building, and when
both parties have checked in, the hearing is placed in the next slot in the
queue. If one lawyer arrives and the other does not, the former can seek out
the registrar to determine how to proceed. Hearings are scheduled for the
morning, but previously there was no way of knowing when or whether a
hearing would be held owing to the absence of one or both attorneys. This
problem has now been resolved. Although less necessary in smaller courts,
the system will be gradually expanded to them, because of the benefits for
both staff and lawyers. It eventually can be used for trials as well (where the
presence not only of the lawyers, but also of other parties is required).
Similar mechanisms are used in other judicial systems and are often part of a
reform program. However, the Malaysian version is especially sophisticated
because of the combination of electronic scheduling with the attorney’s
registry of their presence. This avoids the problem of “definitive” scheduling
of a hearing which will be postponed because one of the lawyers has not
appeared

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Fig.2.3. Queue Management System
3) Case Management System (CMS) :
Case Management System (CMS) is a system that allows cases be managed
electronically, without physical files. For cases that need for a full trial, the
preparation for the trial date, including the submission of relevant documents
needs to be made through this application. Some other cases that need not to
be heard before judges are managed by the Deputy Director using this
system and decisions made are recorded immediately in the presence of
lawyer of both parties (plaintiff and defendant). Some of the most important
measures of CMS have been the tightening up, through the issuance of court
directives of timeframes for lawyers’ provision of documents essential to
decisions on both affidavit and full trial cases. This has been the crux of the
case management process and the effort to prepare cases for their hearing by
judges. Additionally, courts, through their managing judge units have taken
a more systematic approach to 1) assigning cases to judges; 2) scheduling
hearings and other events (which lawyers ignore at the risk of a case being
struck out or suffering a default judgment); and 3) setting and tracking
performance targets.

10
4) Court Recording and Transcribing (CRT):
Court Recording and Transcribing (CRT) is a smart system to record the
whole process of hearing before judges in the open court, so that the whole
court proceeding can be stored in audio video format for reference and long
term preservation. This application also allows for automated transcription
be made easily. One special feature of CRT in Malaysian Court is the use of
audio video recording of its full trial proceeding, which is not been practiced
in most other countries, including Singapore. This type of recording offers
more advantages, such as it allows experts to review the facial expression of
the witnesses or the accused while they are giving their testimony. Since the
recording is regarded as public document, lawyers can have a copy of the
recording to bring back to their office. If there is any complaint or
dissatisfaction on part of the lawyers, they cannot make such complaint
anymore alleging misunderstanding occurred during trial.
In the courtroom, when trial proceeds, the court recording & transcribing
system is in operation. This audio video recording system allows the
proceeding to be recorded fully in audio video format, saved and can
retrieved when needed, such as to make a report or case summary. For the
purpose of CRT recording, every courtroom is equipped with 4 units of
voice auto detect camera, each one facing to the judge, the witness, the
plaintiff counsel and defendant counsel

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Fig.2.4. Court Recording and Transcribing System
Video Conferencing System (VCS).
The Department of Justice in Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia has led the Justice
Department in Peninsular Malaysia in implementing the e-court system. The use of
VCS is important to Sabah and Sarawak as the two states are among the largest
states in Malaysia; they have the appearance of large land and lack of transport (air
transport is the main means of communication but expensive); thus the use of VCS
is the best option. In a normal system, many advocates in Sabah and Sarawak have
to spend time travelling to courts that take a few days while the trial is only about
30 minutes in some cases. This problem has been solved by the video conference
system which not only saves time but also save costs. The savings can be made in
terms of savings in transport fares, accommodation and related allowances. Except
for this purpose, video conferencing is also used for protected witnesses in the case
of rape or cases involving children under the age of 18. The witness would be
placed in another room.

12
Post implementation observation
a. Case settlement rate.
The overall case settlement rate is significantly higher than the
settlement rate before E-Court implementation. With the introduction
of E-Court, the awareness and interest of staff, officials and judges in
using ICT is improved. Provision of emails and internet to staff allow
them to become more productive and efficient.
b. Co-ordination time/ time saving.
E-Court has become a co-ordination mechanism that can save a lot of
courts time finding the status of the case and retrieving of case records
is made easily through the system.
c. Case delay/postponement.
To avoid any delay in case disposal, the system is capable of sending
reminder email to the registrars and judges who handle cases when a
particular cases is still deferred after certain stipulated time
d. Work process (Automatic case distribution among judges).
Work processes are becoming significantly efficient with the use of
case management system.
e. Case backlog.
Referring to the above fact, there is no more problem in managing
and verifying the case status manually. As a result, there are no more

13
backlogs of cases because cases are assigned accordingly between
jurists, to ensure fair workload.
f. Information security.
The use of ICTs guarantees the security of information more than
before. This is because only the authorised persons to a particular case
will be able to have access to it, while the case is still in hearing
process. The use of E-Government smart card and digital signature
leaves a very slim chance for those who do not involve in the case
processing to interfere in anyway. Previously, the physical files could
not guarantee it is always in the safe hand since they need to be
carried around physically.
g. Trust in the system.
The use of information and communication technologies has brought
transparency to the judiciary system in Malaysia. This transparency
brings back the trust of people to the judiciary.
IMPACT OF E-COURT SYSTEM OF MALAYSIA
The management of court records through electronic means bestow great
impact to the government and citizen as a whole. It preserves the memory of
a nation’s civilization in judicial matters. The increase of case disposal rate
after the electronic system implementation in Civil Courts provides
improvement in judicial service delivery in Malaysia. Malaysian experience
has been referred to and is being modeled by many countries around the
world. Since E-Court initiative is not mature as yet, there are a number of

14
issues that need to be resolved. The paramount issue is the disconnect
between what technology offers and the state of legislation regulating
technologies in the court. In terms of technology adoption, the biggest
challenge for courts to move forward is in human resource issues. For a
court registry, the lack of expertise who knows both registry office and
information management standards becomes the first hurdle in implementing
change. In summary, E-Court initiative has significantly improved court
workflow as well as records management in Malaysia. However it needs to
be acknowledged that the major challenges of E-Court are to introduce
standardization, practice, technology and strategy
E-Court implementation in India
The Indian judiciary comprises of nearly 15,000 courts situated in
approximately 2,500 court complexes throughout the country. Under the e-
Courts MMP, it is proposed to implement ICT in Indian judiciary in 3
phases over a period of 5 years. The MMP aims to develop, deliver, install,
and implement automated decision-making and decision-support systems in
700 courts across Delhi, Bombay, Kolkata and Chennai; 900 courts across
29 State/ Union Territory capitals; and 13,000 district and subordinate courts
across the Nation.
The objectives of the project are:
 To help judicial administration in streamlining their day-to-day activities
 To assist judicial administration in reducing the pendency of cases
 To provide transparency of information to the litigants
 To provide judges with easy access to legal and judicial databases

15
APPLICABILITY IN INDIA
Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in
Indian Judiciary and in Indian Courts needs rejuvenation. The successful use
of e-governance for Indian e-judiciary model requires a techno-legal e-court
framework. We need ICT Training and e-courts training for Indian Judicial
System as soon as possible. Further, electronic courts in India must also be
supported by active use of online dispute resolution (ODR) in India to
reduce backlog of cases.
The current litigation system of India is not only antique in nature but has
become cumbersome and time consuming as well. The backlog of cases is
increasing day by day affecting the outcome of various cases. There is an
emergent need of judicial and legal reforms in India so that courts in India
can meet the expectations of the 21st
Century. This has to be done by
maintaining a stance that preserves the courts reputation and supports the
courts critical role in maintaining public confidence in the protection
afforded to them by the law.
In India, we are still waiting for the establishment of first complete E-court.
E-Courts in India cannot be established till we have experts who can manage
this ambitious e-governance pilot project. Similarly, we also need
to train judges and lawyers regarding not only e-courts but also for laws
like cyber law and telecommunication laws. India has to do much more than
mere press statements and opening of E-courts on “papers only” if it really
wishes to encash the benefits of ICT for effective, speedier and
constitutional justice delivery system.

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The establishment of E-Courts in India requires certain prerequisites. These
are:
(1) E-Courts Policy: Setting Policy for various aspects of E-Courts is the
first and foremost requirement. In the absence of a well defined and pre
decided framework, no direction can be given to the E-Courts scheme of
India.
(2) Connectivity: Creating an interconnected system across all court levels is
an important aspect of E-courts. The District Courts in India must be
connected with High Courts and Supreme Court for better, timely and
effective disposal of cases.
(3) Simplicity and User Friendly: E-Court mechanism must be not only
simple but also be user friendly. The litigants must find the E-Courts
facilities in India very easy to adopt.
(4) Scope: In India we consider mere computerization as establishment of
E-Courts. In reality, E-Courts is much broader than mere computerization
and filing facilities.
(5) Authentication: Authentication plays an important role in fixing
attribution and legal responsibility. There must be a “Technology Neutral
Mechanism” to authenticate various stages of E-Courts usages.
(6) Integrity: E-Courts must ensure integration among court and justice
systems.

17
(7) Security: Security of E-Courts Infrastructure and System is of paramount
importance. A system must be put in place that provides secure access to
case information for appropriate parties.
(8) Data Keeping: All the information regarding use of E-Courts facilities
must be duly recorded and stored. These include maintaining proper records
of e-file minute entries, notification/service, summons, warrants, bail orders,
etc for ready and subsequent references.
(9) Payment Gateway: A secure, efficient and fully operational payment
gateway must be established so that various payments and fees regarding
court cases can be made online.
(10) Absence of Monopoly: The E-Courts Project must not be given to a
single vendor. Instead the E-Court Committee of India must adopt a multiple
vendor approach.
However, if the courts have to keep in step and play their part in restoring
public confidence in the legal system then they must find new ways to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. Information and
Communication technology (ICT) can be a panacea for the dying judicial
system of India. We can effectively use ICT for establishment of E-Courts in
India so that E-Judiciary in India can be a reality.

18
Supreme Court of India and most of the High Courts have started an E-
Filing system and Judgment Information system. Daily cause list are also
available digitally. But trial procedures are not digitalized in India.
Fig.3.1. E-Filing in Supreme Court of India
Fig.3.2. Cause List in Supreme Court of India

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Fig.3.3. Judgement Information System of Supreme Court of India
Digitalization of Supreme Court and High Courts alone will not help.
People resort to lower courts like Judicial First Class Magistrate
Court, Munsiff Court, Family Court etc. for their litigation purposes.
These courts are to be digitalized in the field of decision making also.
Then only a complete E-court system can be adopted in India.
CONCLUSION
In India Mumbai High Court started E-Court system including decision
making, but it is only for company cases. In Kerala most of the Judicial First
Class Magistrate Court, Munsiff Court, and Family Courts are computerized.
But the computerization is done only for data entry and for the preparation
of Judgement or Order. No lower court is digitalized for the benefit of the
people. Recently video conferencing facility is made available for prisoners.
But it will help only the police authorities to avoid the production of

20
prisoners to the courts. We can say a court is completely digitalized only
when it’s all procedures including trial of accused and examination of
witnesses is done digitally. Computerization efforts are by no means
sufficient to call these courts e-courts.
Since we have a National e-Governance Policy and we are developing e-
Governance in so many service delivery areas definitely India can model the
Malaysian e-court system rather we can implement the system in a far better
way. The public confidence in the Criminal Justice System of India is
declining and the same has forced the Government of India (GOI) to bring
this issue right back to the top of the political agenda. Its aim is to cut crimes
by increasing the number of criminals brought to trial and reducing the time
taken to complete the legal process.
References:
1. Ani Munirah Mohamad, “Prospects and Challenges Facing E-Court System
in Malaysia”, www.allfreeessays.co. (Accessed on 16/02/2016).
2. Government of Malaysia.; “Federal Constitution, International Law Books
Services”, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
3. Hamzah, A. and Bulan, R.; “An introduction to the Malaysian legal system”,
Oxford Fajar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
4. http://legalenablementofictinindia.blogspot.in/2009/11/e-courts-in-india-
essential-judicial.html (Accessed on 03/03/2016).
5. http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/ (Accessed on 05/03/2016).
6. http://trak.in/technology/bombay-high-court-fully-digital-e-court-07082013/
(Accessed on 07/03/2016).

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