site.btaCourt Case Management System Saves Citizens, Lawyers Nearly BGN 13 Mln since 2020

Over the last four years, the Court Case Management System (CCMS) has saved citizens and lawyers nearly BGN 13 million in costs of travel, waiting in line and staying in courts, the Information Systems company said, citing an analysis of the system and its functionalities.

Users spent 3,800 days less in courtrooms, and the courts saved over BGN 550,000 on paper for judicial instruments and records.

Information Services piloted the CCMS on June 23, 2020 at 17 countries, and it was gradually extended to all 151 regional, district and appellate courts, the Military Appellate Court and the Supreme Court of Cassation.

Since then, over 1,950,000 e-cases were initiated through the CCMS, and 1.6 million-plus were completed. The proportion of initiated to completed cases in the electronic system reached an impressive 84.4%, way above the comparable figures prior to the launch of the e-services. The appealed procedures in all courts approximated 13% in the 2017-2023, while this proportion dwindled to 4% through the CCMS, Information Services said.

The system is actively used by over 11,670 users, including 2,000-plus judges, 4,000-plus jurors, 4,900-plus judicial officers and over 600 process servers. All judges can access electronic court cases at any time and from any place worldwide. Magistrates can work remotely over a secure link with a high level of security. Thanks to this, judges have broader opportunities to examine the electronic files and write the cases without having to be present in person at the palace of justice. 

Information Services noted further that the system has significantly eased the work of process servers. For a fourth year now they can record service via a mobile application, which cuts substantially the time for organizing the entire process, a reliable tracking down and control of the visits.

The developed software functionalities have prompted keen interest in the Single e-Justice Portal (SEJP). Over the last 22 months alone since the portal was launched, the SEJP has registered a treble number of users compared to the 2015-2020 period and over 200,000 incoming documents submitted entirely by electronic means. 

The CCMS is structured in 19 functional and 19 system modules. It standardizes case management rules and procedures, increases the efficiency of the work of magistrates and judicial officers and of the court administration in general. The system enables parties' eased access to court cases via the CCMS and real-time access to data and other information systems and search of external registers. The system is integrated with 15 external information systems of the executive and the judiciary. 

The system makes it possible to follow the progress of cases in real time even before the paper documents have reached the court concerned. It integrates the overall case management process: case initiation, random case distribution, management of hearings, adjudication and  disqualification of court instruments, court statistics, judges' caseload and financial management of cases, management of summonsing activities, etc.

"The implementation of the CCMS and the opportunities it provides significantly enhance court cases' transparency, publicity and traceability," said Information Services Business Analysis Manager Nikoleta Stoyanova, quoted in the press release.

In her words, citizens' and legal persons' access to justice has been tangibly facilitated, the working process has been considerably optimized, and magistrates' and court officers' work efficiency has been increased.

"The CCMS set the solid foundations of e-justice in Bulgaria and showed that even systems with established traditions of processing conventional paper-based documents can have their processes eased and electronized," Stoyanova said further.