The landlocked country in southeastern Africa, Malawi, is becoming the first in the world to use OpenTrial's application for smartphones and tablets. What it does, is allowing its citizens to access the justice system using their own mobile devices.
The system was first revealed and launched in Blantyre, the country's finance and commerce center.
NGO's (Open Trial) Chief Executive, Frank Richardson, who attended at the launch and demonstrated the app, said that the app will assist with keeping legal system role players under open, public scrutiny. As a result it is hoped that this will encourage integrity, independence, diligence, equality and impartiality in Malawi’s justice system.
"The App has three functions: one is to inform people of their basic rights with regards to fair trials and detentions, the other is a checklist that people can use to determine whether their friends or family members or detainees have been detained legally and that the trial was constitutional, the third is the reporting function," explained Richardson at the launch.
"So, those who feel something is not quite right and feel that their rights have been violated, can report of that to us through the App and then we will gather the data."
Legal systems are among the oldest institution, but they are still far from using the advantages that can be given by modern data processing technology. Malawi's OpenTrial system is meant to keep the national judicial systems as transparent as possible. It includes information on users rights, and it allows them to report instances in which they feel that those rights have been violated.
Initially, the OpenTrial app is being implemented in a pilot phase in Malawi, supporting various organizations such as Solicitors International Human Rights Group in London, International Bridges to Justice, and the Transparency International, the Hague Institute of the Law, Amnesty International and Lawyers Without Borders.
The app is free and available to download for Android devices in both English and Chichewa language.
