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New justice system overhaul will 'prevent meddling'

7 Oct 2011

According to North Gauteng High Court Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann, a proposed overhaul of South Africa's justice system will prevent "meddling" with case files. "With this system," he said, "judges will be given an electronic case file the moment a case is opened. The electronic files will be saved in a server and will have certain features to prevent meddling."

Talking at the opening of the annual Consumer Goods Council of SA conference in Johannesburg, Bertelsmann said that the new system would speed up trials. "Delays are simply not good enough," he said, "[o]ur criminal justice system is creaky in its joints. We have 40 000 people awaiting trial in prisons. Some are granted bail, and others can't even raise R300 needed for bail.

An efficient and technologically advanced justice system, said Bertelsmann, would benefit the Consumer Goods Council as well. "How would we deal with crime, protect brands and patents, guard against unfair competition and protect labourers from being exploited if we never had courts?" he concluded.

Read the full article on http://mg.co.za.