Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts is the first in the Middle East to adopt an e-system that allows documents to be uploaded from anywhere in the world.
The e-bundling service will enable judges, lawyers and courts staff to access case information, across multiple locations and share with numerous users.
The move follows a target set by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, to make the emirate completely paperless by 2021.
Read more: All Dubai Government departments to be paperless in four years, says Sheikh Hamdan
The DIFC Courts joins the UK Supreme Court as one of only five court systems globally to adopt the electronic bundle (e-bundle) technology.
The system will be introduced on March 29, giving lawyers and law firms three months to become paperless. Full system adoption will be compulsory for new cases filed after July 1.
Training seminars will be held at DIFC Courts.
“Embracing technological advances and abandoning outdated processes will now enable court judges and international teams of lawyers to work together on evidence in the cloud whilst the case is still being heard in court in real time,” said Amna Al Owais, chief executive and registrar at DIFC Courts.
Developed by CaseLines, a UK-based leader in digital trial solutions, the e-bundle technology serves over 25,000 users globally and saves over 900,000 sheets of paper daily – enough paper to create a stack as high as the Burj Khalifa every ten days. It has a record of approximately 230,000 cases, with almost 63 million pages of evidence and records.
Last year, the Courts developed a mobile-friendly in-house Case Management System (CMS), connecting various departments and functions within the organisation and providing them with easy access to information.
