Court rulings to be accessed online, says Busingye

MUSANZE – The Judicial system’s aspiration to be ICT compliant has gone a notch higher in a latest development that enables judgements of all courts in the country to be posted online by January 2010, High Court president, Johnston Busingye said. Busingye, currently making a nationwide tour to meet judges, explained on Wednesday in Musanze District, that court rulings and related matters will be posted on one website. Previously, only rulings of the Supreme Court could be accessed on the Internet. “We want all court decisions to be accessed online by early next year, our staff are working on it now to ensure that that this move becomes a reality,” Busingye said. In an interview, he said that this will enhance the judges’ competence as it will mean that rulings will be made open, to the public. “It will help the judges in their day to day research and be able to develop a sense of learning from each other. It will also encourage transparency within court rulings,” Busingye added. Academicians praise the move In separate interviews, a number of academics praised the move as a step in the right direction. The acting Dean in the Department of Law, at Kigali Independent University (ULK) Gisenyi campus, Jean Baptiste Serugo, said that the move will help lecturers and law students to study different court cases and how such cases had their rulings determined. “It will help our law students to access judgements in order to acquire knowledge on particular verdicts. This is actually a good move,” Serugo said. He suggested that posting rulings online for greater accessibility will help to fight allegations of corruption within the justice system. A law lecturer at the National University of Rwanda, Didas Kayihura, noted that the project will help the lecturers and judges to engage in constructive debate. Ends