| Goods and Services | MyMobileCourt! Mobile Courts - Bringing Justice Closer to the People - a Court on Wheels! The Mobile courts solution aims to bring justice services at citizen's doorstep, wherever they live and work. By bringing justice closer to the people, the Mobile Courts tool (mechanism) was designed to address the myriad access to justice challenges that citizens face, especially the vulnerable segments of society such as women, the poor and small businesses. Across the world, citizens face numerous hurdles to access to justice. These hurdles range from geographical impediments, the lack of physical access to court, and a lack of access to transportation means to safety concerns for women, discriminatory practices (e.g. gender-based, religious and other bias), delays in service delivery, corruption and low transparency levels, as well as high costs (e.g. court fees, corruption costs, lawyer fees). These hurdles are particularly heightened for economically and socially challenged segments of the population, who are at higher risks of being effectively barred from seeing their day in court. In the developing world, the well-being of these vulnerable citizens, including their access to justice, represents a major focus of the design and deployment of impactful solutions for social and economic development. In this context, innovations that can help improve access to justice and service delivery while concurrently cutting down costs are critical to the protection of citizens rights, reducing discrimination, and fulfilling due process obligations mandated by all Social Development Goals. The Mobile Courts Solution aims to address justice problems from a demand and supply angle, and deliver justice services in an accessible, friendly, timely and cost-effective fashion. Background Mobile courts (in the formal court system) reflect a citizen-centric vision of justice service delivery. This innovation, deployed for the first time in Guatemala in 2003 as a result of Development Marketplace competition, was envisioned as an impactful solution to geographical, safety, transportation and cost challenges that prevented guatemalan citizens from effectively accessing justice. Objective - Mobile courts were designed to help address unmet justice demand in an expeditious and cost-effective fashion, in settings unfavorable to access to justice. This includes rural areas, or areas afflicted with poor public transportation systems, poverty, or endemic information and education challenges. with the deployment of the mobile court innovation, fast-track procedures are concurrently put in place, in keeping with the mobile court's objective to simplify, and facilitate the delivery of expeditious justice. Evidenced benefits include cuts in travel time, reduced costs for users and lawyers, streamlined and shorter case processing, and improved transparency. Concurrently, mobile courts relieve regular court docket to more complex cases, and help decongest the courts. Ultimately, the Mobile Courts form a major part of a culture of service, bottom up, at the image of a trustworthy judiciary, a pillar of social peace and harmony in society. What makes mobile courts successful. The social and culture dimension. Many country contexts in which mobile courts intervene still apply traditional justice systems, which often times commands more respect from local communities than the formal one. Bringing formal justice closer to the communities in a trustworthy way, deploying amicable dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation that resemble traditional ones, and offering free information, are particularly appreciated by local communities for their citizen-centric nature, and the understanding of their local culture and customs. As such, they are viewed as a positive policy and gesture of governance. Mobile courts offer services through multiple and interrelated means, these include: (i) A specialized vehicle - a regular vehicle such as van, bus, boat, or other automobile, retrofitted to offer the services via a justice-on-wheels initiative, where a purpose-built space and facilities and materials are provided to justice officials for travel to urban, peri-urban and rural areas to serve citizens and businesses; (ii) A mobile technology platform that leverages iCloud and mobile phones, whereby citizens and businesses receive justice services in the palm of their hand without physically getting in touch with the courts; and (iii) An itinerant travel circuit of justice professionals on public transport/trains away from central court locations to towns and villages to offer services in public spaces such as Schools, municipal centers, libraries, and other. These mechanisms are generally in place in many countries where senior judge travel and hear cases but usually these are high courts and appeal levels. Mobile court design requires 5 steps. (i) assessment of the socio-political, legal, economic and cultural context, identification of demand and nature of services that are needed, as well as associated benefits and risks; (ii) review of the judicial norms, procedures and organizational framework to craft out jurisdictional flexibility in the provision of justice services, physically away from the traditional court location; (iii) assessment of organization, staffing, training and logistics and the development of operational procedures and guidelines for use by judge/magistrate, court officials and other justice staff; (iii) selection and training of judges/magistrates and court staff on the design, deployment, interinstitutional coordination arrangement and operation of mobile courts for select mobile court services, and related media and community outreach; (iv) design and procurement of a specialized vehicle to use as mobile court for particular service in urban, peri-urban, rural areas on land and water ways (see details ahead); and (v) learning, MandE, maintenance and testing of services and obtaining feedback from judicial officials operating the mobile court and citizens on addressing their demand and quality of service delivery. Mobile court services that help target access, transparency, timeliness and cost issues faced by citizens and business, should include the following: (i) receive, register, hear and adjudicate civil, commercial, family and labor suits (first instance or small claims that involve simple and of lower value disputes) (note - criminal cases are not encouraged in mobile courts in countries where organizational arrangements and due process guarantees are not adequately robust, to minimize operational challenges. Also, socio-political risks are much more that civil mobile courts which require special considerations. For example, criminal jurisdiction mobile courts will require distinct court layout, spaces for other justice sector stakeholders such as prosecution, public defenders, and others which warrant special design features, see ahead); (ii) conduct conciliation and mediation service to help parties resolve disputes and grievances; (iii) provide immediate relief to victims of domestic violence through issuance of protective orders by the judge/magistrate in the mobile court after hearing the victim; (iv) administer Oaths on Affidavits and certification of documents; (v) give report on cases and court schedules; (vi) provide legal aid and justice information services to citizens free of charge; (vii) issue and print court documents e.g. proceedings, judgements/rulings and decrees/orders free of charge through the use of remote IT system installed in the mobile court; (viii) offer training, education and outreach to justice sector stakeholders and general public on the role and functioning of the court system in general, and mobile courts in particular; (ix) offer court space for the holding of remote hearings for higher courts; (x) offer special services to handicapped persons who cannot travel to courts where physical buildings do not cater to these services, while mobile courts have these capabilities to offer services to physically handicapped persons; and (xi) support the carryout of other auxiliary justice functions such as receive citizen feedback and complaints, support notifications, enforcement proceedings, land demarcation visits. Technology and digitization, an integral part of the mobile court features - One key technical feature of all types of mobile courts is that state-of-the-art mobile technology platform feature which helps mobile court operation on the one hand and on the other hand remotely connects court users. The mobile technology platform that leverages icloud and mobile phones, whereby citizens and businesses receive justice services in the palm of their hand without physically getting in touch with the courts. Design of mobile court service vehicles: In line with mobile court justice services that are "selected" based on the findings of the above noted assessments, in order to serve all types of users (women, men, children, persons with disabilities, small businesses etc.), the design of mobile courts should conform to JUDITECTURE (pending Trademark application approval) principles (judicial organizational layout, technology use, vehicle seating plan and engine, HVAC and safety specification) and other social and cultural requirements. MyMobileCourt! design features for different types of user needs is provided ahead. (a) For urban areas where road network is relatively well-developed bus structure or similar vehicles could be retrofitted for mobile court operations. (b) In Peri-urban and rural areas in developing countries, where roads are usually not well developed or have hilly terrain, mobile court design should take into account specially considerations such as four by four traction, high road clearance, seating capacity and engine horsepower etc., while selecting the appropriate vehicle type. For these target areas large minivans, small trucks or a similar vehicles can be retrofitted or constructed using vehicle chassis. (c) When mobile courts are needed to serve isolated populations along waterways, and lakes or on islands, Mobile Court Boat should have additional technical considerations to what that are provided ahead, such as local conditions, weather, security and other socio-cultural requirements. Overall features of MyMobileCourt! A modern mobile court specialized vehicle, whether retrofitted bus, minivan, truck or boat, should have several features and appropriate spaces for judges, staff and users. These include: (1) a dedicated space for the mobile court operator-driver, (2) a security camera and recording equipment for inside and external use, (3) a kitchenette, fridge and microwave for use by judicial staff while performing their tour of duty, (4) a judge or magistrate chair, (5) a judge or magistrate table, (6) a computer and server equipment set, (7) court user chairs and table for use inside the court, (8) a computer laptop for court staff, (9) a printer, scanner and photocopier for court use, (10) a court clerk table, (11) an electricity generator mounted on the vehicle for court operation, (12) a secure storage unit for case documents, legal aid forms, information leaflets, training materials and court reports, (13) a microphone equipment, (14) a clerk chair, (15) a door for user entrance, (16) a TV display and mounting, (17) a disabled persons' lift and access door, (18) a set of solar panels fixed on top of the vehicle for power and lighting, (19) a roll up type canopy fixed outside the vehicle to provide shade in the waiting area, (20) a side door for judge's entrance, (21) a set of portable tent, folding chairs and table, for use adjacent to the mobile court by users and staff, (22) an air conditioner and or heating unit fitted on the vehicle, (23) a washroom, (24) a drinking water tank, (25) a security staff for court protection, (26) a set of round mediation table and chairs, (27) a set of court adjudication and mediation related signage and tools, (28) a fire safety and emergency aid kit, (29) a mobile phone, (30) a satellite internet dish and antenna set, complete with server, router, and cybersecurity equipment and application software for e-service provision and communication with judicial offices, among other features. (See Schematic Framework attached as additional information) |
