THE National Judiciary has transitioned to a digitised court system on January 2.
This was highlighted by the Chief Justice Sir. Albert Rocky Palmer on Tuesday at the opening of the 2025 Legal Year.
“I am pleased to announce that the long-awaited transition of the National Judiciary of Solomon Islands to a digitised court system is now complete.
“As of January 2, 2025, we have officially initiated this process through our Online Case Management System,” Sir Albert said.
He expressed gratitude to the High Court Registrar Myonnie Tutuo and her devoted team in the Registry and the IT Advisor Troy Wehrenberg for their efforts towards the successful initiation of this process.
“I also acknowledge the support provided by the Solomon Islands Government-ICT Unit and the Australia-Solomon Islands Partnership Program, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian High Commissioner His Excellency Rod Hilton.
“Their trust in the Judiciary as the third arm of government has been instrumental in advancing the delivery of justice services and ensuring ongoing funding for Troy’s services over the past five years, facilitating a smooth transition into this New Year, 2025,” Sir Albert added.
Sir Albert said this marks a significant milestone in enhancing the services provided by the National Judiciary, particularly in reading Registry matters, court records and the management of court processes.
He then urged lawyers to work together to improve the eFiling process and systems, adding that the goal is to make it more user-friendly without sacrificing confidentiality.
“The eFiling allows lawyers to submit court documents electronically to the court registry. This is a change from the past when court files were maintained as physical paper records.
“The physical paper records were kept in three different case files: Red color file for Criminal cases, blue color file for civil cases and yellow color file for the Court of Appeal.
“Now, with the digitized system, official records of the court will be stored on Electronic Files (eFiles) in the Online Management System, fundamentally changing how court records are managed,” he said.
Sir Albert encouraged members of the judiciary to familiarise themselves with this new process as all court records will now be stored electronically.
“Of course, you may choose to create your own physical file at your own expense. Judges, depending on their preferences, can have our Registry print paper documents for them, or they can access all records and documents on their laptops.
“You will still have the option to manually file court documents if you
Prefer. However, all court records and processes will now be handled electronically by the Registry, converted into electronic formats and stored accordingly.”
The Chief Justice said this transition represents not just a trend, but a necessary evolution that aligns the national judiciary with the modern international judicial community.
“From now on, cases will be categorized as either Paper File or eFile and while representing a party in a case, you will have online access to the relevant eFile.
“It is essential to note that both traditional paper filings and documents submitted via eFiling will be accepted for both types of cases,” Sir Albert said.
Sir Albert said that some may have expressed concerns about the system’s capacity to handle this change, hence they can organise further training sessions for legal practitioners, judges and Registry staff in the coming weeks and strongly encouraged lawyers to attend these hands-on training sessions.
By AGNES MENANOPO
Solomon Star, Honiara
