As part of efforts to digitalise filing processes, the Lagos State judiciary has deployed Cinfores Court Management Information System, (CoMiS) to automate its filing processes.

The Lagos State Courts Management Information System for Magistrate and Small Claims Court (LagosCoMiS) was formally launched recently at the Lagos High Court in Ikeja, with the signing of the service level agreement between the state’s judiciary and the Cinfores.

The agreement was signed after a three-week test-run overseen by the ICT Committee chaired by Justice Rahaman Oshodi. Justice Oshodi, who delivered the committee’s report, scored the deployment and testing phase of the solution very high.

The event attracted Lagos Chief Judge (CJ), Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba, as well as judges, magistrates, lawyers, representatives of Cinfores and other stakeholders of the state judiciary.

In his presentation, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Cinfores Limited, Mr. Asawo Ibifuro, disclosed the operational modalities of the CoMis, explained various stages of the deployment test-phase, including general trainings for all categories of court personnel and registration of users on the LagosCoMiS portal.

“Approximately 49 court personnel, including registrars, magistrates, and bailiffs, were physically trained on the usage of the LagosCoMiS, while lawyers were provided with videos showing step-by-step processes of e-filing using the platform,” he explained.

He added that the training provided all teams with a fundamental overview of the LagosCoMiS solution, including its features and benefits. Over 350 users, including court personnel and private citizens, according to Mr. Asawo, have registered for e-Filing and e-Affidavit deposition on the LagosCoMiS.

“At the time of the launch, LagosCoMiS has received 66 electronic filings,” he said.

He assured that CoMiS is a robust system that seamlessly manages all court processes such as e-Filing, e-Assessment, Payments, Case (Suit) Number assignment, Case Assignment, Case Management, Applications Management, Probate Management, Lis Pendens Management, e-Notifications, among others with an embedded system for e-Affidavit generation and validation.

His words: “With this system, affidavits are safe, verifiable and secure. The Cinfores CoMiS is the court’s present and future. It is currently defining court as a service, rather than a location, through improved service delivery, which will support effective justice administration.

“CoMiS was first deployed in Rivers in March 2019, where it has continuously managed the state’s judiciary’s e-Filing activities. It has since been deployed to various courts across the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Customary Court of Appeal, Oyo State Judiciary, Kebbi State Judiciary and Osun State High Court, among others.”