The management of High Court records in Botswana

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss issues pertaining to the management of court records in Botswana.Design/methodology/approachThe paper shows the use of questionnaires, structured and unstructured interviews with the High Court administrators and records keepers as well as personal observations on how records are managed, inspection of storage facilities and observations on records retrieval procedures.FindingsConcludes that in the past the management of legal records at the High Court received little attentions, but now the High Court has embarked on measures including the introduction of an automated court record system to manage its records.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that the effective management of legal records is of crucial to the administration of justice and that there is a need to pay closer attention to the management of court records.Originality/valueThis paper brings together issues related to the management of court records at the High Court in Botswana.

The nexus between legal records and human rights in the justice delivery system

“…The judicial system may fail to bring justice in criminal actions if reliable and authentic records are not presented. Court cases may not proceed, an accused person's appeal may not be heard if a record cannot be located, and the status of concerned parties' prolonged civil litigation may not be determined in the absence of a record of proceedings (Motsaathebe and Mnjama, 2009). In all such situations the citizens' rights are violated.…”

“…Table 7 shows this. Ngulube (2005) and Motsaathebe and Mnjama (2009) advise that records should be protected from improper access, accidental loss, theft, deliberate or unintentional damage and unwanted destruction. From the interviews it emerged that damaged records are difficult to use in a court of law.…”

“…In Motsaathebe's and Mnjama's (2009) view, the daily operations of the court depend on the availability of accurate, authentic and reliable information that should be presented in a timely manner. Interviews with the two magistrates revealed that there were no posts of knowledge manager at the Bulawayo Magistrates' Court, let alone in the public sector.…”

“…Much as they document activities, records serve as admissible evidence in a court of law. Motsaathebe and Mnjama (2009) argue that records are of fundamental importance in the administration of justice and protection of individual rights. In a recent study conducted in Kenya's judiciary system, Maseh (2015:1) posits that ''records are fundamental to the efficient and effective operation of the legal system of any country and are more critical to the administration of law than to any other function of the public sector.''…”

Impact of e-court systems implementation: a case study

“…The current challenge identified in the relevant literature on the technology integration with justice systems is that they are more concentrated on descriptive studies, presenting knowledge in relevance to the system description and design, system prototype and specifications (Meng et al, 2007;Rungruangpattana and Achalakul, 2008;Saman and Haider, 2013). Marginal studies exist to define the efficiency improvements concerning the time, cost reduction, process efficiency and user satisfaction toward the information system (Motsaathebe and Mnjama, 2009;Luzuriaga and Cechich, 2011;Hamin et al, 2012;Yahya et al, 2013;Rahman et al, 2014;Agrifoglio et al, 2016;Hayashi and Wakabayashi, 2017;Hou et al, 2017;Mosweu and Kenosi, 2018;Singh et al, 2018). Additionally, they only presented experiences from Asia, Africa, America, Europe and Australia, where most countries are developed and technologically advanced governments.…”