Montserrat’s ongoing power and internet problems may hinder the effectiveness of the new digital court filing system, one of the island’s leading legal experts has said.
At the launch of expanded E-litigation Portal services this week, Kristen Taylor-Hilton, acting director of public prosecution, spoke of potential “drawbacks” of the online system.
She told those gathered at the Montserrat Cultural Centre in Little Bay on 2 December, that during training for the technology, there were a couple of instances when the internet dropped.
“Navigating the portal became impossible,” she said.
“When you live in a small country that has been facing electrical issues for far too long, those issues trickle over to the provision of internet and sometimes even data services.”
Taylor-Hilton said the inability to file a document in time because of a power or internet outage “scares” her, and she is not certain the chief justice and colleagues would accept that as an excuse.
She said some attention has been given to the drawback, as the portal includes a ‘pack and go’ feature allowing attorneys to download the entire case to a device.
“But again, you have to be able to access the portal in the very first place, and the only way is through the internet,” she said.
A balanced account
The ceremony marked the launch of an expansion of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s E-litigation Portal into the criminal division of the Magistrates Court and High Court in Montserrat.
While most of the speakers stressed the benefits of the new service, Taylor-Hilton did not shy away from discussing potential challenges.
“I was inducted into the halls of criminal attorneyship over a decade ago, and finding the holes, the drawbacks or the pitfalls in cases has sort of become second nature to me,” she said.
She mentioned that the system may have growing pains as attorneys and unrepresented defendants learn how to file their own documents.
And she flagged the potential challenge of police officers who are expected to appear in court but have no access to the portal so may be unaware.
The acting director of public prosecution went on to highlight several benefits of the portal’s services, which she called “awesome”.
She said it will cut down on the amount of paperwork lawyers need to carry to court, it will strengthen organisation, information will be easily accessible and it allows for remote working.
