The system code named “The Criminal Justice Case Tracking System (CTS) can track the stage, status and progress of civil and other legal cases from arrest to incarceration across the complete case lifecycle.

The aim is to expedite the justice delivery process, reduce the number of remand cases in the prisons, and check corruption in the Judicial Service.

It will also facilitate inter-institutional coordination and communication among the key stakeholders, including the police, the Attorney General’s office, the judiciary and the prisons.

Launching the system, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, stressed the need for speed and efficiency in the justice delivery process and indicated that the successful implementation of the project would be invaluable in the administration of justice in the country.

Another major issue affecting the criminal justice delivery system, the Vice President said, was the judiciary’s slow nature in embracing automation techniques or information technology to speed up the wheels of justice delivery.

“There is nothing routine about dispensing justice. And there is nothing to be taken for granted. Your everyday decisions and administrative processes are consequential for the lives of the many citizens and body corporate who appear before you every day,” he said.

Dr Bawumia indicated that the challenge confronting the country was how to address the backlog of cases in the justice sector which had been a concern for citizens and for government.

Aside that, he said the capacity to track the location and status of cases had been a major problem and added that the situation had created fertile grounds for corruption by certain individuals in each of the key steps in the justice chain.

He said the introduction of the system would enable the stakeholders to track their cases in the justice delivery equation from the arrest of suspects or receipt of complaints through investigation, charging, prosecution, trial and punishment.

The Vice President said issues of undue delays, loss of files, among others and the subsequent clogging of the criminal justice delivery system by excessive court caseloads and backlogs would be resolved with the introduction of the system.

The Chief Justice, Ms Sophia Akuffo, noted that the system had been designed to check corruption but added however, that there was the possibility that some unscrupulous persons would attempt to circumvent the system and engage in corruption.

She said the introduction of technology was usually accompanied with unprecedented challenges and called for constant vigilance.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ms Gloria Akuffo, also urged the stakeholders to implement the project with honesty and integrity to check its abuse.