Risk factors in e-justice information systems

With the increase of the communication systems' bandwidth and with the dissemination of the information systems, the fields of information and communication technology application expanded in almost all directions. E-government in general and e-justice in particular are no exception and these areas suffered strong changes in the last decades. There is no democracy without a system of swift and transparent justice. Therefore, the introduction of information systems in the courts allows a decrease both in time and number of pending processes, boosting the efficiency of the services provided to citizens and to the society in general. This paper analyzes and discusses different worldwide e-justice experiences. Special emphasis is addressed on the risk factors on the design, development and implementation of such systems. Finally, we present our own experience in the development of an e-justice information system in Cape Verde, an African development country. The scope of our system ranges from the design team until the training of the justice agents. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.