Ondo judiciary launches e-filing system

In the quest to speed up justice delivery in Ondo state, the Chief Judge of Ondo state, Justice Olusegun Odusola, launched the electronic court filing system, saying it will quicken the process of litigation and administration of justice in the state.

Justice Odusola said lawyers and litigants in the state can now swear an oath through electronic means when filing their suits by electronic filing processes.

He noted that the electronic filing of documents and work-based access to court materials had become common place in many developed jurisdictions around the world and said Ondo state will not be an exception.

The Chief Judge said benefits of the electronic filing process cannot be over-emphasized, noting that members of the Bar and Bench were ready to embrace the technology as training will be put in place.

According to him, with the electronic filing technology in place, wherever there is internet connectivity, lawyers can now file their cases anywhere in the world to aid quick dispensation of justice.

The Chief Judge said “this is a significant milestone in the history of Ondo state judiciaryjudiciary, for the first time we introduce electronic filing system.

“I know that some state like Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti states have been operating digitally and the electronic filing had been in operations in those states but we are still operating manually in Ondo state, so this is a good significant development”

Speaking on the challenges that the judiciary may encounter, the CJ said the staff of the judiciary will be trained in order to get them acquainted with the new innovation.

He said “From time to time, we will continue to organize training for our workers so that eventually they will be able to master the system.”

Also speaking, the Chief Registrar Mrs. Yetunde Ajanaku, said the newly electronic filing will help to block loopholes in the system and increase government revenue, saying the benefits of the new innovation are enormous.

Ajanaku said “The benefits is not for the judiciary alone because it will be seamless what they’ve been stressing themselves to do by driving to come to the Ondo state judiciary or High Court can be done at the comfort zone.

“Apart from increasing the revenue of the state, the advantages are enormous because, the probate, affidavit and filing will be done electronically.

“They’ve been doing all these in other states and this will block all the leakages, the loopholes where the state money has been passing, and the conduit they’ve been using to siphon the money will be blocked.

“This will manifest in the state revenue and this can be in more than 90 percent increase or more when compare to what it has been when it was operating manually.

“We know there will be some hitched but with time, we will able to perfect whatever challenge we may be facing now.”

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