Electronic records management in Tanzanian courts

Abstract

Conventional records management systems are mostly used to support court operations and service delivery in Tanzania despite the substantial development of ICTs. The objectives of this study were to: examine types of e-records managed, explore staff perceptions of the usefulness of e-records management, and analyse factors limiting electronic records management in selected courts. A survey design comprising qualitative and quantitative research approaches was employed to meet these objectives. Standardised questionnaires, followed by semi-structured interviews and observation were used to collect data. The findings of the study suggest that e-records management is still in its infancy stage in the courts studied, since the majority of records are still managed using manual systems. The findings further inform that even though the adoption of e-records is ineffective, staff positively perceive the approach. According to the study, ineffectiveness of e-records management is a result of inadequate qualified staff and training on e-records management, shortage of technical staff to support the use of e-records management systems, inadequate funds, ineffective e-records management legal frameworks, and poor implementation strategies. As such, the study recommends diversification of funding sources, capacity building through training and retraining, formulation of e-records management policies and standards, and motivation of court staff.

Enhancing the Quality of Judicial Service Delivery through E-Filing System: The Case of Rukwa District Courts in Tanzania.

“…A study by Romwald & Mwantimwa (2020) found that paper-based records management systems are still the most commonly used, indicating that it is not as effective as expected. Another study by Hassan & Mwantimwa (2022) found that e-filings system was ineffective. However, the previous studies did not give enough consideration to such aspects as dimensions of quality judicial service delivery through e-filing, duration, accessibility and convenience of the judicial services delivered through e-filing.…”

Management of electronic records to support judicial systems at Temba Magistrates’ Court in the North West Province of South Africa

“…For instance, Pumulo (2012) indicates that courts of law in Zambia are battling with managing both physical and electronic records, which affect the delivery of justice and duration of cases. Odeyemi, Issa and Saka (2011), Ladan (2014), Mboya (2019) andHassan, Dotto andMwantimwa (2022) state that courts in Tanzania and Nigeria have a massive backlog of court cases that have delayed progress of hundreds of thousands of criminal cases because of ineffective management of electronic records. Furthermore, Maseh (2015), Nafula (2018) and Wanjiru and Learning (2022) advocate that Kenyan Judiciary experiences several challenges such as backlogs of cases, lost, misfiled, or damaged files, and delays in registering cases because of poor recordkeeping practices.…”