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Key insights | Summary | Background | Solution | Benefits | Law firms | Courts
eLitigation simplifies the litigation process for law firms and Courts by offering a unified platform. This platform, utilizing a content management system and dynamic e-form technology, provides a single access point for the initiation and active management of case files.
The transition to eLitigation necessitated a structured change management program to train users. Awareness seminars, e-guides, and modular training were employed to facilitate seamless adoption, supported by Crimsonlogic’s 24/7 helpdesk and Service Bureau for ongoing assistance post-launch.
Justice Lee Seiu Kin
Supreme Court of Singapore
Client: Supreme Court of Singapore
Challenge: The Singapore Judiciary implemented the world’s first Electronic Filing System (EFS) for civil litigation in 2000 – a transformational shift from paper to a paperless system. Since then for the next thirteen years, it significantly revoluntionised the litigation process and the law firms’ interaction with the Courts. The massive backlog of 2,000 pending cases in the High Court (set for trial but trial dates were only available three years later) were reduced by 92% within a span of three years1.
In 2013, the EFS solution could no longer keep up with the technological advancements and the needs of the legal sector. Therefore, a new system with upgraded features and capabilities was necessary to propel Singapore’s litigation process to the next level.
Solution: Unlike EFS, eLitigation is a web-based platform that leverages on content management system and dynamic electronic form (e-form) technology. It offers law firms and Court users a single access point to start, and actively manage case files throughout the litigation process. Front-end users only need to input information directly into the e-forms once, and this same set of information is used to auto-populate other Court documents.
Benefits: The implementation of eLitigation has contributed to a 100% clearance rate for all civil and criminal cases in the Supreme Court2.
EFS is a joint project between the judiciary, CrimsonLogic and the Singapore Academy of Law.
EFS played a crucial role in realising Singapore Judiciary’s vision of a paperless litigation system. However, there were certain drawbacks in using EFS:
Since then, technology had evolved and there is a need to keep the system relevant to meet the increasingly sophisticated use of technology in the Courts. The Singapore Judiciary took the next step to harness new technology by engaging CrimsonLogic to extend the capabilities of EFS with the implementation of eLitigation.
eLitigation is a web-based platform that leverages on content management system and dynamic electronic form (e-form) technology. It offers law firms and Court users a single access point to start, and actively manage case files throughout the litigation process.
Unlike EFS, eLitigation eliminates the need for smart cards/card readers and software installation on local computers by using SingPass (an online account management to access Singapore Government e-services) for online access.
Front-end users only need to input information directly into e-forms once, and this same set of information is used to auto-populate other Court documents.
eLitigation also provides functionalities and related services that streamlines the litigation process, thereby helping to improve efficiency and enhance access to justice. Law firms enjoy full access to all documents in a case as long as it remains active. The Courts calendaring process can also be managed and streamlined to allow Court officers to better schedule current calendars. Hearing information such as outcomes can be captured and tracked for the generation of statistical reports.
The transition to eLitigation required a structured and comprehensive change management programme to train users who had been accustomed to using EFS for more than thirteen years. With the introduction of e-form technology and content management system, some of the functional roles had to be altered to enable efficient use of the system.
A series of awareness seminars, e-guides and modular training was launched to ensure seamless adoption of the eLitigation system, including ready access to support via Crimsonlogic’s 24/7 helpdesk and Service Bureaux.
Dedicated resources were deployed to the post launch support channels to address difficulties arising from the shift to the new system.
The implementation of eLitigation has resulted in 100% clearance rate for all civil and criminal cases in the Supreme Court. In 2014, the Supreme Court of Singapore received 14,396 new civil and criminal cases and a total of 14,355 of them were disposed in the same period3.
1 12th Conference of Chief Justices of Asia and the Pacific – Overcoming Backlogs. Speech of the Chief Justice of Singapore, Mr Chan Sek Keong.
2 Supreme Court Annual Report 2014/2015
3 Supreme Court Annual Report 2014/2015
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