THE Court of Appeal is introducing new systems on how it conducts business and attorneys should be prepared for the new changes next month as the Court seeks to deal with backlogged matters.
In a press release by the Judiciary on Friday, the Judiciary stated that in order to tackle the backlog, the Court of Appeal judges were introducing case management and caseflow management in the Court of Appeal process and moving to a docket system.
The Judiciary stated, “The Justices have organised themselves in three panels of Judges, The Central Panel, The East Panel and The West Panel each of which has been provided with a docket comprising one third of the cases pending in the Court of Appeal.
“Each panel has begun profiling its docket and will be holding Appeal Case Management Conferences on all Civil and Family cases in the month of March. Attorneys in all Civil and Family matters are being advised to look out for notices and to be prepared to attend these conferences in order to advance their matters.”
The Court of Appeal will later be addressing Appeal Case Management Conferences in Criminal, Petty Civil and Magisterial Appeals. It was the goal of the Court of Appeal to complete matters within at least 24 months of filing, the Judiciary stated.
To support the new initiative, the Judiciary’s new Caselines Software and its team of Digital Voice Writers will play significant roles, the Judiciary stated and that the Judiciary’s ability to hold the Appeal Case Management conferences virtually has made it possible for attorneys to appear before various judges in the same day.
