Electronic payment of bails, fines at Courts possible soon- Chief Justice

In an effort to revolutionize the operations of the courts, efforts are being made to roll out an e-payment system that will pave the way for the payments of bails and fines electronically.

Already, the Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and Attorney General, Anil Nandall were engaged on the implementation.

The aim is to roll out the system before the end of the first quarter of 2025.

“The only major matter that is still to be full addressed is the e-payment….so that payments for filing cases can be made with bank cards, by bank to bank transfers or by other electronic payment methods.

“…I am hopeful for positive results before the end of this quarter,” Chief Justice (ag) Justice Roxane George said on Tuesday.

Addressing the opening of Law Year, 2025, Justice George said the system would save time and avoid delays.

She said women and children will also benefit as it relates to the payment of maintenance.

“With such an e-payment platform, we hope to revolutionize the payment of bails, fines and maintenance with the latter being most beneficial to women and children especially as it would mean that no matter where the person liable for maintenance is located, once they have access to the internet they can pay money via online bank transfer or for example MMG,” Justice George noted.

In 2024, the court had moved to digital with an electronic court management system.

This was in its bid to improve effectiveness and efficiency of judges and court staff, improve the management of cases to ensure timely disposition, establish reporting of data and case statistics and allow for the monitoring and scheduling of cases in real time.

Presently, court rooms are also being equipped with systems to allow recording and virtual hearings while transcripts are being made available.