The Chief Justice, via video conferencing technology last week, presided over a hearing session involving residents of Rusizi District who had gathered at the Intermediate Court to present their grievances. She didn’t have to leave her office in Kigali.

Formerly, residents were compelled to travel from all corners of the country to Kigali to present their complaints, a process that was not only costly, but time consuming for both the public and the courts.

Rwandans should be very excited about the judiciary’s recent adoption of innovation of video conferencing, considering the need to reduce the backlog in our courts.

Better still, the potential of technology to liberate us from the long wait for justice should not be ignored.

The onus is now on other agencies to ensure that the public is served through the use of such technology. There is need to address the problem of low internet connectivity which may affect the system.

The technology advancement tells something about our justice system; the potential for timely hearing of cases could be one of the best indicators of the state of any justice system.

Expeditious trial and disposal of cases is the hallmark of a fair and efficient justice system.

What has been started by the Supreme Court, Commercial High Court in Nyamirambo and the four High Court chambers in the provinces, should be emulated by other sectors.

Ends