The judiciary is confident that the wheels of justice are gaining speed and will soon be turning even faster. Speaking at a meeting of the judicial heads of court in Johannesburg on Sunday, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng announced the imminent digitisation of the court system which will save time and money.In countries like the USA, Singapore, Malaysia and France, courts have successfully gone electronic and SA will take a leaf from their books.“We have seen courts in other countries facilitating access to justice by cutting down on expenses in relation to postponements and most importantly in relation to evidence-taking,” Mogoeng said, addressing members of the media.The new system will allow witnesses residing outside of the area of the court a case is being heard in to give evidence through an audio-visual link. This will eliminate the time and money parties currently spend on travel for witnesses.“All the waiting periods we have become accustomed to will simply disappear,” Mogoeng said.Mogoeng could not comment on the overall costs involved in going digital, but said that once implemented, the system will allow litigants to access documents for free, at the touch of a button and without fear that natural disasters or dodgy deals will make information disappear.“We have had criminal cases, for instance, where records disappeared. People immediately lodge [an] appeal ... and say: 'I have a constitutional right to lodge an appeal. I am ready to proceed with the appeal. The record is not here. I am not to blame.'"Almost in all of these cases they would have to be set free, even if in reality they might be guilty.“[With the new system], information cannot be stolen because it will be electronically secured,” Mogoeng said.Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo said that the project's planning process is well under way and expected to be completed in September.Digitisation could be rolled as early as the end of next year.But the pace of litigation has already quickened in our high courts with the implementation of the judicial case flow management pilot project, which ended last month.The system gives presiding officers total control of the speed of proceedings in civil cases, taking this power away from the parties and their legal representatives.Western Cape Judge President John Hlope said that the results of the pilot in the Western Cape showed that cases now take three months to go to trial, whereas it took on average three years in the past.The project, first confined to high courts, will now be expanded to some of the busiest magistrate's courts, Mogoeng said...