The e-Judiciary system: Obliteration of the digital divide through ICT4D in traditional justice systems

Rural and marginalized communities of South Africa are largely governed by a system of traditional authorities, constituted by a Chief and his Counsellors. The latter thus forms a traditional judicial system which is citizen-oriented in operation. Such a system practices customary law as a method of providing justice to the community at large. A major disadvantage with this system is the lack of a proper safe-keeping environment for judicial information, which also makes it challenging to disseminate vital information to the community. This challenge, to a large degree, is encompassed by the existence and continuation of digital divide in traditional justice administration. To alleviate such a challenge, a research study was undertaken with the objective of designing and implementing an e-Judiciary (electronic Judiciary) system. The designed system operates as a web application to support traditional justice administration. It further provides a centralized portal for safe-keeping of judicial information and serves as a platform for the administration of minor offences that are solved by the traditional courts. This in essence provides a better working environment for traditional judicial leaders and eliminates the difficulty of accessing legal information by the rest of the community. Through the availability and use of the e-Judiciary system, community members are provided with understanding and knowledge about judiciary operations and services in their community. Such a system has been designed using FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) and is part of an ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development) initiative of the SLL (Siyakhula Living Lab) research group.