Rwanda’s Justice Minister, Johnston Busingye, recently disclosed an agreement with Morocco on the implementation of a digital court project in the North African nation, along with other reforms in its judicial system. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during an official visit to Rwanda by a delegation from the country, led by Moroccan Justice Minister, Mohamed Aujjar.

The justice ministers of both countries met in Kigali and affirmed their willingness to learn from each other. They also discussed the structures under their ministries and how justice is delivered in their respective countries. Citing Rwanda’s experience, the minister said before the reforms that started in 2004, the country solely relied on manual programmes with a lot of paperwork.

“Today, we are at a level where individuals file their cases online, follow up on their cases online as well as receive telephone messages about their case proceedings. The only thing that requires people to come to courts is hearing,” Busingye revealed.

There’s a huge potential for digitizing ‘dispute resolution’ in many courts. A functioning digital information management and distribution system used by citizens, legal experts and the staff of courts could free up resources and make justice more accessible.

“Digitization eases court procedures,” Busingye said. “The justice sector in Morocco is going through a huge reform and among the most important elements are building digital court programmes.”

Modernizing the operations will improve the efficiency of the legal system. By working more swiftly and transparently, Morocco’s courts will positively impact the way the legal system is perceived in the country, thereby boosting overall public confidence in the judicial arm.

Busingye also added that Rwanda would explore the possibilities of adopting some programmes from Morocco’s justice sector.

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