KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Justice is developing a programme to adequately train and sensitise staff at all levels of the judicial sector in the use of the second case management system being introduced.

The facility is designed to assist in optimising the operations of all courts islandwide where it will be introduced, by creating a database for organising and monitoring data.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes said as efforts are made to modernise the sector, equal investment must be made in training the staff to manoeuvre the new technology.

“Introducing technology, by itself will not produce results unless the human dimension is addressed comprehensively. You have to begin to sensitise persons about the change that is coming, what is expected and, more importantly, how they’ll be able to use it in a manner that is easy for them,” he contended.

The chief justice was speaking at the recent National Conference on Technology in the Justice Sector at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston.

Meanwhile, Sykes said the case management system will assist in the timely scheduling of trial proceedings.  

“One of our problems has been [improper] scheduling of cases… allocating sufficient time so that [they] can run efficiently from beginning to end. What we hope to achieve with the case management software is to know that a case will take 30 days or 40 days, so that we are not allocating days on a hit or miss method,” he pointed out.

The National Conference on Technology in the Justice Sector was held under the theme ‘Roadmap to e-Justice: Enhancing Efficiency Effectiveness and Access to Justice’.