SVG now on ECSC E-litigation portal for the Family Court

St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has become the seventh member state to commence proceedings on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s (ECSC) E-Litigation Portal for the Family Court.

And, chief registrar Michelle John-Theobalds is encouraging all Vincentian legal practitioners and litigants to familiarize themselves with the Portal.

A media briefing was held on Friday, May 17, for the implementation of the ECSC’s E-litigation Portal for St Vincent and the Grenadines Magistrates Court-Family Module at the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chief Magistrate, Rechanne Browne said that the court has had to process the vast majority of court cases in the sub-region by far and it therefore stands to reason that the magistracy is an important site for innovation that aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system.

“If I describe the litigation portal as a good dream, I might have to say that its predecessor, Judicial Enforcement Management System (JEMS), was a bit of a nightmare.

She said the system had a lukewarm reception, suffered from some design defects, and was woefully underutilized, and she is sure that the E-litigation Portal will not suffer the same fate.

Chief registrar of ECSC Michelle John-Theobalds, told legal practitioners and litigants at the briefing that their days of having to travel to and from the magistrate’s court across St. Vincent

and the Grenadines are over, as she assured them that court documents uploaded to the Portal will be safe and secure.

“User accounts and passwords are also very protected, and documents once they are filed on the photo, they cannot be manipulated. They can’t be deleted. They can’t be adjusted not even by persons inside the court staff or anybody, and there are many other added security benefits…”.

She said the key point to emphasize is that all of these features, when pulled together, will lead to greater efficiency. John-Theobalds added that these benefits are even more apparent when one considers the many challenges to the administration of justice that they have faced over the last few years.

“… So while the implementation of the portal in the magistrate’s court will result in many changes, the traditional ways of doing things in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we must be willing to embrace change.”

She noted that growth and change are synonymous so one must look at their society and the digital trajectory that we are on to see where the world is going.

“Technology remains a key component of the court’s mandate to provide access to a system of justice that is fair, efficient and effective … I can assure you that the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court does not want to be left behind as the world moves on digitally. We cannot afford to remain stagnant.”

John-Theobalds said that the court must grow along with all the technical advancements that are taking place in the world so that it can improve as a court that is well renowned and impeccable, and to do so practitioners have to move ahead with technology.

“I therefore encourage all of our stakeholders here in St Vincent and the Grenadines to fully embrace what the portal can achieve. That includes the staff members as well, get to know your content, and I know it’s something new for you and change management is going to take place, but on your free time, play around with the portal so you will get to know better how to use it. “

She said that training videos are already available for use, and encouraged those in attendance to ensure that they know how to use the portal so that they can serve the public and stakeholders to the best of their abilities.

The rules for the portal are published on the court’s website wwe.eccourts.org, and the chief registrar said copies will also be made available at the magistrate’s court office.

“I encourage you all legal practitioners, our staff as well, become familiar with these rules …and I wish to emphasize the family’s rules. A magistrate may order the migration of a case … after giving parties a reasonable opportunity to be heard on them.”

By migration, John-Theobalds means that although the process is now live for all new proceedings filed in the family court, there is no reason why the proceedings which have been filed before cannot be made available for the portal. This is done through a process called migration.

“And it makes life easy, so it doesn’t mean that because you were filed under the manual system that you cannot take all of that file and make an application to have that file migrated.”

She said that the high court and the court of appeal have been encouraging practitioners and litigants to take advantage of this opportunity to get all of their matters migrated to the portal, and now the same is done for the magistrate’s court.