Justice Abha Nayar Patel, Judge of the Supreme Court of Zambia said delay in justice is not simply an inconvenience but a form of injustice itself. “Across the world, judiciaries are experimenting with case management systems, e-filing, virtual hearings, AI-assisted legal research, and predictive analytics for case flow. Some jurisdictions have gone further still, piloting AI tools to assist but never replace judicial reasoning in high-volume, low-complexity matters. In my own region, Zambia, we are taking slow but meaningful steps towards the digitisation of court records and virtual testimony, born partly out of necessity during the pandemic years, but now recognised as tools of genuine access,” she said.
