Challenge
The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre’s (QICDRC) mission is to facilitate and resolve civil and commercial disputes fairly and efficiently in accordance with internationally recognised best practices and with a firm commitment to upholding the rule of law. To carry out its mission, effective management of the case lifecycle, from issuance to progression to disposal, is essential.
In 2016, as its caseload continued to grow, QICDRC recognised that it had to change from the old way of doing things, which included litigants and legal professionals working with hardcopies. If left unchecked, the cost and time inefficiencies would adversely affect citizens’ and businesses’ access to justice. QICDRC resolved to digitalise their case management process.
Solution
In April 2017, QICDRC selected CrimsonLogic to support their digitalisation journey. QICDRC found assurance in CrimsonLogic’s deep experience in digital transformation for the legal domain.
In a span of about nine months, QICDRC and CrimsonLogic collaborated closely to develop and implement eCourt, which is powered by Chrysalis eJudiciary, an e-filing and digital court case management platform. QICDRC’s eCourt was launched in February 2018 – ahead of schedule. CrimsonLogic also provided product training to the judiciary and legal community to help users get maximum value from the platform.
Justice Anywhere, Anytime
• One-stop web-based platform: Users of QICDRC’s eCourt now conveniently access legal services anytime, anywhere and via any web-enabled device.
• Virtual hearing integration: eCourt’s video and telephone conferencing facilities are seamlessly integrated with Qatar’s court system for security and the full courtroom experience.
Efficient Workflow
• E-filing and case management: On eCourt, legal professionals manage the entire case lifecycle online, from filing a case to issuing a judgment.
• Hearing management: QICDRC manage all hearing-related services online, including scheduling; facility booking; resource booking; document sequencing and collation; and written judgments.
• Configurable, flexible engine: A powerful core automates tasks, notifications, document generation, and avoids schedule conflicts for the eCourt, which lessens administrative burdens.
• Reporting and analytics: eCourt generates reports of case management performance to assist data analysis and insights into efficiency.
Effective and Safe Collaboration
• User account management: eCourt empowers law firms, whether in Qatar or abroad, to manage their legal practitioners’ memberships and user access rights to the platform, alleviating the administrative burden on the court.
• Role-based intuitive interface: eCourt streamlines the user journey for each type of stakeholder (including litigants-in-person, legal practitioners, registry staff and members of the judiciary) and ensures that the right permissions are granted to the right users to access relevant and authorised information.
• Audit trail: eCourt keeps records of every interaction happening on the platform for a transparent judicial system.
People-Centric, Easy to Use
• Self-service user registration: eCourt’s intuitive collection of user data enables the auto-population of information into other relevant documents. This saves users’ time by eliminating the need to repeatedly key in the same information.
• Dashboard: This displays outstanding tasks clearly and provides quick access to commonly used functions according to user role.
• Email and SMS notifications: eCourt automatically alerts users when actions are needed from them and updates them on case progress.
• Help function: Users who have queries about using eCourt can get quick answers from the platform’s in-built virtual assistant.
• Multi-language options: eCourt operates in both English and Arabic.
Smart and Sustainable
• eSignature: With eCourt’s secure management of eSignatures for digital documents – a more environmentally-friendly practice – there is no longer a need for hardcopies.
• Scalable: eCourt has been developed based on open standards, which is crucial for future changes to address long-term solutions.
eCourt has helped to improve access to justice by making the Court and Regulatory Tribunal more accessible to litigants and lawyers through its easy-to-use interface, its bi-lingual operation, and, most importantly, the fact that it can be accessed from a multitude of different devices anywhere in the world.
Continuity in the Pandemic
Most civil and commercial cases are now filed and managed electronically via eCourt. When the Covid-19 pandemic happened, QICDRC was able to continue operating without incurring delays, disruptions or backlog due to the digital nature of eCourt. All cases are digitally managed and all hearings, virtually held.
Long-term Support
When QICDRC chose to go digital, they were looking for a partner who could commit to a long-term collaboration, as they knew that digital transformation entails an evolving journey of continuous innovation and improvement.
They were convinced that CrimsonLogic, which has been in the business for more than 30 years, remains passionate about digitalising legal systems.
We take pride in going the extra mile for QICDRC and will continue to be readily available to troubleshoot issues, develop new functionalities with them and meet the ever-changing needs of the legal landscape together.