The recently enforced Rules of Court 2012 finally introduces a provision on e-filing by virtue of Order 63A of the Rules. To the least, this new Order 63A which came into force on 1 August 2012 addresses the concerns by many lawyers on the absence of legal provisions on ICT at the courts.
Nonetheless, e-filing remains an option for filing of court documents, as it is still not compulsory. Order 63A of the Rules gives power to the Registrar to establish and make provision for e-filing services.
In addition, there are no specific provisions to cater for the other ICT systems at the courts e.g. case management system, queue management system, court recording and transcription, audio and video conference system, and community and advocates portal. Probably the other systems will be managed internally by practice directions and best practices, instead of prescribing specifically in the Rules.
Click HERE to read Order 63A of the Rules of Court 2012.
