OMESTI’s eCOURTS team was honoured to receive a delegation recently from the Ministry of Justice, Cambodia, for a visit to gain a deeper understanding of the workings of the digital courts infrastructure in operation in Malaysia.

Leading the Cambodian delegation was HE Chin Malin, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice, Cambodia, accompanied by senior colleagues from his Ministry. The three-day mission included various sessions with the Malaysian eKehakiman Department at the Place of Justice, Putrajaya, where the delegates had the opportunity to view demonstrations of the digital eCOURTS platform in action.

Tuan Mohamad Kamil Bin Nizam, Director of Malaysia’s e-Court Division was on hand at the Palace of Justice to provide more insights on the process and benefits of using digital systems to handle court cases. The session covered the ins and outs of case registration, eFiling, eCase Management and Online eHearings. During the visit to Palace of Justice, the group was also honoured to be received by Tuan Zamri Bakar, Deputy Chief Registrar and other officials of the Malaysian Judiciary.

The visit also included discussions at OMESTI Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur covering the detailed workings and implementation of the OMESTI eCOURTS system.  Nurman Rummel Sanusi, COO eCOURTS, OMESTI Group, explained, “The digital courts system that we proposed back in 2009 and went on to implement, has revolutionised the way that courts in Malaysia operate. There was an immediate step-change, with a significant reduction in case backlog and the time required to hear cases also reduced considerably.”

Court officers are now able to handle case management online, lawyers are able to file cases electronically and members of the public are able to track case status via the public portal.

“However, the success of the digital transformation journey in Malaysia has been made possible largely thanks to a visionary group of individuals from the Malaysian Courts. It has been their foresight and commitment to bringing digitalisation to court operations that has made this endeavour possible. The system that is now in operation at 99 locations across Malaysia has truly set a benchmark across the region,” highlighted Rummel.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, with this extent of digital court infrastructure already in place, the Malaysian courts were able to quickly pivot and adapt. A number of additional features were easily introduced that enabled virtual hearings to be conducted and cases to be heard, overcoming the restrictions on physical movement at the time.

Other recent additions to the system which have made the process more convenient and helped minimise the requirement for physical attendance at court are the ePG module and the eDenda module. The high volume of traffic summons being served in Malaysia and the number of cases being brought to court adds a heavy burden to the courts’ schedule. The ePG module allows individuals to enter a guilty plea and settle the case online, allowing the Courts to handle other often more pressing matters.

With the e-Denda module, members of the public no longer need to queue up at the court payment counter and can settle their fines online. This helps speed up the process of paying fines and expedites the release of the accused.

“We have been delighted to welcome the Ministry of Justice delegation to Malaysia. We hope that their visit here has provided His Excellency Chin Malin and colleagues with greater insights into the benefits of our eCOURTS platform and the challenges it helps overcome,” added Rummel.