Cayman courts are to get a high-tech revamp in a bid to make the judicial system more efficient, the islands’ top judge signalled on Wednesday during the Grand Court opening.
Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale said she still hoped for a new courts complex, but, in the meantime, she planned to bring existing buildings up-to-date to boost court services and the administration of justice by “moving towards automation”.
Ramsay-Hale added she wanted to “harness technology for information services and access” and create resources that were “fit for purpose and which used technology effectively to improve court processes and improve delivery of services to court users”.
She highlighted that the court had just installed an electronic sign-in system for the main court building in George Town’s Heroes Square, replacing an old-fashioned book that had to be filled in by hand.
Ramsay-Hale said the new system was a “risk-mitigation feature” as well as a measure for saving paper, as it would help to identity who was in the building if there was an emergency.
The chief justice was speaking as the judiciary and the legal profession marked the start of a new court year at the Grand Court in George Town.
She added that new technology meant jurors could now be selected electronically rather than by sifting through a hard copy of the electoral register, which would also avoid recalling people who had been excused for a period after previous service.
She added that new technology meant jurors could now be selected electronically rather than by sifting through a hard copy of the electoral register, which would also avoid recalling people who had been excused for a period after previous service.
Ramsay-Hale said that software to alter the voices of witnesses given anonymity had also been sourced.
“We are now able to do that. The only people who see the witnesses and hear the actual voice is the jury,” Ramsay-Hale explained.
She added, “We are moving towards courtroom automation where things that will be automated is the recording of courtroom proceedings, so we have introduced, for the record, a digital recording system.”
Ramsay-Hale said a pilot scheme had been running in courts 8 and 9 for about a year and used AI to record and simultaneously transcribe proceedings.
She said people would still need to check and certify the electronic transcription and that traditional court reporters would still be needed, although there was a decline in the number of people choosing the career.
Ramsay-Hale said the “disastrous” relaunch of a new court website was “not planned or managed properly”, but that an upgrade to the ageing and insecure site “had to be done”.
She told the audience, “With the growing risk that that presented, we had to make the difficult decision to decommission our site and transition it to a new platform … we are committed to rebuilding the site in a way that ensures that all the features and services that you rely on are available, while also enhancing accessibility, performance and long-term sustainability.”
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Its really a shame where our politicians place emphasis on. Our court building is bursting at the seams, the dump is near to capacity and the recent mental health facility cannot house mentally ill criminals. But our finest politicians got a $4 million dollar park, fighting the people for more destruction of the environment, want more roads to open more land for development, want piers for Mega ships to destroy the Cayman visitors experience both by sea and plane and a school on the Brac that is not needed. Just a few to mention.