TWO attorneys-at-law have embraced Monday’s announcement by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes that by April, digital recordings of Supreme Court proceedings should begin to take place.

Sykes made the announcement at King’s House during the swearing-in ceremony for five judges.

Justice Kissock Laing was appointed judge of the Court of Appeal; Justice Georgiana Fraser was made an acting judge in the Court of Appeal; Opal Smith and Tracey-Ann Johnson were appointed acting puisne judges; while Christine McNeil was appointed acting master-in-chamber.

King’s Counsel (KC) Peter Champagnie told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday that the development was “very good news”.

“I think that needs to be applauded. It’s long overdue and it represents yet another move towards making our justice system one of the best in the world. It was long in coming and I look forward to the implementation of it,” Champagnie added.

Attorney Andria Whyte Walters, of the law firm Whyte Walters Law, was equally welcoming of the news.

She told the Observer that she was happy to see that the courts and policymakers are embracing the use of technology and artificial intelligence to make the system of justice easier for attorneys, judges, court staff and more importantly, “the people who the system is to serve”.

“I am talking now about the ordinary Jamaican. What I expect it to do is make the court system more efficient. As the chief justice said, all of us need to be trained. In terms of digitisation of the court records and the proceedings and all of that, I believe it is a paradigm shift. I believe it will really assist how we as defence counsel, how we prepare and present our matters. It will enhance court proceedings on a whole and because it is digitised, the footprint is there. Any procedure that will make the court system more efficient and user-friendly, especially for John Public, I welcome it,” she said.

She continued: “Going to court is an intimidating process. We have a lot of problems in terms of, let me give you a perfect example, a lot of litigants may be abroad and they can’t come down. They might be the claimant in a matter and they don’t have the money or the wherewithal for every court date,” Whyte Walters said.

She suggested that the decision makers bring the system to an advanced stage, where certain court cases can be streamed live for public viewing.

“That is where I want it to go. Jamaicans will have a greater appreciation about the rules of evidence and about court proceedings. For instance, in one of the gang matters, where some of the accused were let go because there was not enough evidence to ground the conviction. The chief justice got a lot of criticism from John Public, but I want John Public to understand that evidence and the strength of the evidence is important. If someone doesn’t come to court to give evidence then depending on the type of matter, it can go no further,” Whyte Walters said.

“What I want across the system in every court, even if it is an outstation like an Old Harbour court or a Linstead court, is for all of the courts to have video capabilities so that litigants can do video links. They are in quite a few of the courts but we are not there yet,” she added.

Whyte Walters suggested that attorneys be allowed to digitally file court documents.

“I would want to be able to file court documents online and track case progress online,” she said.

To facilitate the digital records of court proceedings, Sykes said that job posts have been created and rules are in place. He said that those activities were being led by a committee headed by Justice Leighton Pusey.

“A lot of work went into it over the last couple of years and so we are now here. Training is to be received through collaboration with one of our international partners and that will include everybody — judges, digital clerks, transcriptionists and defence counsel. It is going to necessitate changing practices and the way the courts operate and the rhythm and flow of work in the courts,” Sykes said.

“The practice of court starting, witnesses giving evidence, we come to the end of evidence, witness is coming out and when the witness is transitioning, counsel pops up and says, ‘Judge, may I mention the matter of so and so and so’. They would say it will only take five or 10 minutes and then it becomes 20 minutes. That will now have to come to an end because to get the best out of digital recording, you need to have the continuous recording of the evidence so that the transcriptionist would not have to spend time now to say, ‘Oh, this is a part of this case, this refers to a bail application, this refers to a case management’,” he added.

He continued,“The evidence will be taken in blocks so that matters relating to bail applications and so on, would come early or towards the end of the sitting, whether at lunch or the end of the day. That is a positive development there.”