An Information Technology (IT) firm, Global T & T New Solutions Ltd., which partnered Lagos State Ministry of Justice on virtual court proceedings, says the public can view the proceedings online.
Mr Musbau Famuyiwa, the Managing Director of the firm, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos that the proceedings could be viewed through www.lagosstate.remote-court.com.
NAN reports that online or remote court proceedings was introduced by the state government to decongest the courts and prisons in this era of COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Famuyiwa, members of the public can only view but cannot partake in the proceedings.
“Members of the public in Lagos are expected to go to www.lagosstate.remote-court.com, especially those individuals who do not have the remote hearing details such as the user ID or password.
“They are expected to go to the site and watch the live stream but they will be unable to participate in the proceedings,” he said.
Throwing more light on how the Lagos State Judiciary can be more accessible online to litigants, Famuyiwa said that the dynamics of every case had its scheduled solutions.
He said the schedule would give the court the opportunity to shortlist a case online and communicate with parties remotely without the parties being physically present in court.
“It gives courts the opportunity to contact the remote court registry to get information on upcoming cases that will be scheduled for remote hearing.
“It also provides the court with a diary of all the cases that the court will hear remotely.
“The system in place helps with prison and court decongestion while the location barriers caused by the pandemic has been taken care of by the schedule,” he said.
The consultant said an indexing system had also been provided to enable Lagos State Judiciary staff to gain easy access to documents online.
He noted that while creating the remote court system for the Lagos State Judiciary, the Zoom App was deployed for convenience because a number of the judges and parties already had the app.
“So far, it has been a success, and I hope that courts of other jurisdictions will adopt this system,” he said.
Famuyiwa added that Global T&T New Solutions Ltd. had helped to provide a case management system called Global Case Manager currently being used by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to manage cases online.
“There is also the Lagos State Criminal Information System, which is a database of people within the criminal justice system of Lagos State, including current, suspected or convicted criminals.
“It provides their biometric information, their cases in court, the type of offences, data on areas with high criminal activity within Lagos, as well as the states of origin of those people,” he said.
