ENHANCING EFFICIENCY IN SRI LANKAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM THROUGH INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

The judicial system in Sri Lanka has been functioning the same way for many decades and is in desperate need of reform in order to reduce the delays in delivery of justice, cost of litigation and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of court procedures. Modern trends identify that incorporation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) into its processes may enable such objective to be achieved.
In Sri Lanka many sectors have embraced ICT as a key contributor to enhance the effectiveness of their functions. However, the Sri Lankan judiciary is yet to understand and make use of its full potential.
Many countries have adopted ICT into its courts processes and research shows that it has been successful in enhance efficiency of the justice system. This was clearly seen during the period of COVID-19 pandemic, as jurisdictions that had already incorporated modern technology were able to carry out functions without adverse effects while those who were still dependent on paper-based processes had to come to a standstill. Therefore, for many countries including Sri Lanka, the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a stimulant to incorporate ICT into the current judicial system.
In this study the researcher identifies priority areas in the court procedures, determine where ICT could be introduced and provide recommendations to adopt ICT to enhance performance in the Sri Lankan courts system.
Therefore, the researcher embarks on a comparative analysis utilizing two additional jurisdictions, India and Denmark to identify the mechanisms that have been kept in place by the use of ICT and carries out key informant interviews to estimate the current application of ICT in Sri Lanka and there by compile recommendations to further enhance the efficiency of the Sri Lankan Judicial system by use of ICT.