Exchange of experiences on the “Digitalisation of the Justice System”

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Published: December 7, 2020

Because of the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic in particular, more attention is being paid to the subject of digitalisation in many areas of our lives and work. It is currently also the subject of much discussion in the justice system, where there are calls for accelerating and intensifying the digitalisation process. In this context, IRZ organised an exchange of experiences on 12 November 2020.

The online seminar, which was aimed at around 40 participants from the Moroccan and Tunisian justice systems, was carried out in partnership with the Moroccan Ministry of Justice and financed by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV).

It continued the series of events on this subject with other IRZ partner states in Africa and served as an introduction to the complex subject of the “digitalisation of the justice system”. In view of the current crisis, the online seminar was designed to pay particular consideration to the electronic justice system and covered the following three main points:

• electronic justice system and e-Justice,
• electronic mailbox and remote hearings and
• data security.

The international nature of the seminar made it possible for the participants to discuss and compare points of view and experiences on these three subjects from Germany, Morocco and Tunisia. Despite different approaches between the countries, the experts and participants were nevertheless able to identify many of the same problems.

The following were appointed by IRZ to take part in the discussions:

• Yvonne Bach, Presiding Judge at the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf
• Dr. Lars Bierschenk, a judge at the Regional Court of Bonn
• Hatem Rouatbi, a lawyer, university professor and director of the “Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Methods” research laboratory at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of Tunis-El Manar.

The Moroccan speakers at the online seminar came from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR).

During the seminar, it became clear that all those involved see the digitalisation of the justice system as an opportunity and the participants agreed that the process should be accelerated. They see digital processes as an absolutely essential part of a modern justice system and believe that it is important to ensure that all those involved have access to digitalisation. In this respect, the constitutional guarantee was discussed with a view to court proceedings, with the main focus being on fundamental procedural rights.

The online seminar was the first in a series of events. The lively discussions between academics and practising legal experts and the involvement of several institutions underlined the highly topical and multifaceted nature of this subject. There was a remarkably high level of interest in this event.

There are plans to continue and intensify the cooperation to increase electronic communication in the Moroccan justice system and in other partner countries in this project.