The Bar Council Malaysia President, Ambiga Sreenevasan is witnessing the live digital court system at Kompleks Mahkamah Petra Jaya, Kuching today. Accompanying him is the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, the Right Honourable Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Richard Malanjum, four Malaysia Bar Council members and other judges resident in Sarawak.

Sarawak is the first State ever in Malaysia to embark on the use of Multimedia/Video Conferencing System (MCS), Short Messaging System (SMS) and File Tracking System (FTS) for Kuching, Sibu and Miri High Courts.

With the Multimedia/Video conference facility, lawyers will not be required to travel to attend outstation cases for interlocutory court hearings in Kuching, Sibu and Miri. The lawyer will only be required to attend the Multimedia/Video conferencing room in Sibu and Miri High Court to appear before the judge of Kuching High Court in Kuching for a Kuching case. This will save a lot of travelling time for the lawyers and also expenses for their clients. This facility is being implemented in the High Court in Sabah and the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya.

The short messaging system (SMS) technology will be used to notify and remind advocates with regards to the status of their cases. For example, an SMS notification alert informs an advocate of a last minute court hearing rescheduling thus enables him to manage his time accordingly and more efficiently.

With the File Tracking System (FTS), the court will be able to keep track of the whereabouts of each individual file. The problem of misplaced files should be a thing of the past.

Innovative technologies such as RFID, Biometry using finger prints and barcodes are used in this system for optimal efficiency.

Another key module is the e-Submission where lawyers will be able to submit documents to Judges and Magistrates online.

The digital court development and implementation of Multimedia/Video Conferencing System (MSC), Short Messaging System (SMS), File Tracking System (FTS) and e-Submission are made possible with the collaboration of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, the Sarawak State Government and Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (SAINS). The digital court system was launched on February this year by the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, Malaysia, the Right Honourable Tun Dato' Sri Ahmad Fairuz bin Dato' Sheikh Abdul Halim.