E-Syariah (Sarawak) screen shot

The Prime Minister launched E-Syariah at the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel on the 7th of February 2003. An application conceptualized and developed by Sarawak Information Systems Sdn. Bhd. (SAINS), E-Syariah is a system aims to revolutionize and bring effective changes to the operations of the Syariah Courts.

E-Syariah is a system built with the objective of improving the overall efficiency and decision-making process of the Malaysian Syariah court. At the core of it is a court case management system that assures timely and just dispositions for all cases. In addition, the other auxiliary modules like system links to relevant agencies, namely, Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), Royal Malaysia Police Department (PDRM), Immigration Department Malaysia, Legal Affairs Division (Prime Minister’s Office) (BHEUU) and National Registration Department (JPN); the library system; lawyer registration; and portal; together with the office automation and networking efforts; all help to create a cyber world for the Syariah court officials.

Ultimately, E-Syariah promotes collaboration and sharing of vital information while increaseing productivity and efficiency in the management of cases.

E-Syariah Partners

The implementation partners for the E-Syariah project are Malaysia Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) as the consolidated customer, Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia (DSJM) as the custodian for the system and Sarawak Information Systems Sdn. Bhd. (SAINS). And of course, all the state Syariah Courts are involved in the implementation.

Development

Part of the team at the briefing in Shah Alam

Sarawak Information Systems Sdn. Bhd. (SAINS) developed the system. Its subsidiary company, SiliconNet Technologies handles quite a lot of the components. The system itself started in SAINS. SAINS brought in the subsidiary companies in this project to help in the development of the system.

Conceptualized and developed in 1995, E-Syariah is a combination of experience, thoughts, and analysis that has gone on with regards to the business of the Syariah Courts since 1995. A lot of foundation work has been done. This was actually when SAINS first started getting the requirements in building the Syariah Court Electronic System (SEMak) for the State Syariah Court.

The building of E-Syariah itself dates back to year 2000. That was when SAINS started targeting the national market.

The People

About 100 people from SAINS and its subsidiary, SiliconNet Technologies, formed the team developing the system. These include the project managers, system analysts, programmers, system administrators, network engineers, and support personnel.

The Prime Minister, Sarawak State Secretary and the CEO of SAINS at the launching of E-Syariah at the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel

Costs

E-Syariah is a RM 36 million project. The system started in 1995 and development and building it has been going on for 8 years now. The product has matured, been tested and has reached a level of sophistication.

Applications in E-Syariah

The modules and the components in the E-Syariah consist of the:

- Syariah Court Case Management System (Sistem Pengurusan Kes Mahkamah Syariah or SPKMS), which deals with cases;

- Syarie Lawyers Registration System (Sistem Pendaftaran Peguam Syarie or SPPS)

- Library Management System

*Note that all these three modules above are for the court to use. For the private citizens there are the :

- E-Syariah Portal whereby the citizens or the public can interact with the court and people can come and check their cases.

- Component/ system links to the various Government Agencies (JAKIM, Royal Malaysia Police, Immigration Department, National Registraion Department and the Legal Affairs Division (Prime Minister’s Department).

Implementation Stages

There are 6 main stages in implementing the E-Syariah (between building and completion). The six stages are:-

Stage 1

To put the Syariah Court Case Management System Version 1 into MAMPU, DSJM and the Syariah Courts in 6 States (Wilayah Persekutuan, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Perlis and Pulau Pinang).

This was done in July 2003.

Stage 2

Implementation of the Syariah Court Case Management System Version 1 to the Syariah Courts at the 8 States (Kedah, Johor, Pahang, Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak). A Library Management System is also scheduled for implementation during this Stage.
Stage 2 is still in progress and is scheduled for completion in June 2003.

Stage 3

Implementation of the Syariah Court Case Management System) Version 2 to MAMPU and DSJM and Syariah Courts at the 6 States (Wilayah Persekutuan, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Perlis and Pulau Pinang).

This is where the creation of Version 2 of the system takes place. Feedback from the customers or clients is taken in. SAINS will then configure the system according to the requirements and needs of the customers or clients. This stage has in fact been developed since Stage 1. Version 2 will then be put into the first 6 states.

Stage 4

Implementation of the Syariah Court Case Management System Version 2 to the Syariah Courts at the 8 States (Kedah, Johor, Pahang, Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak).

Stage 5

Implementation of the E-Syariah Portal

Stage 6

Implementation of the Syarie Lawyers Registration System (Sistem Pendaftaran Peguam Syarie (SPPS))

*All stages are scheduled for completion by June 2005. Each stage takes about 6 months to complete.

Benefits

Benefits for Court Administrators

With a consolidated database of clients collected from district courts throughout the country, administrators are supplied with a rich source of data of related people and cases for timely decisions. Once registered, case data is delivered to judges instantaneously, with a state-of-the-art workflow engine that improves efficiency and productivity dramatically.

High-impact statistical reports enable authorized users to use local, state and national data to explain and interpret the work of their courts. Workload assessments for valuable resources like judges, support staff, courtrooms, etc, are fundamental for decision and policy making.

Benefits for Judges

Equipped with productivity tools like calendaring and scheduling, and an inheritance (Faraid) calculator, judges are now able to process their cases swiftly. Cross-references to an on-line data and reference material like law databases, Al-Quran, Hadith, Fatwa, etc, greatly improve their access to resources and enable them to make quality decisions.

Benefits for Lawyers

E-Syariah also benefits the lawyers who deal with the court regularly, for case filing, trials, status checking, etc.

The system inte-grates the processes seamlessly and delivers more efficient services to the lawyers.

Furthermore, the lawyer registration module enables lawyers to pre-register themselves with the court over the Internet, cutting time-spent in the process tremendously.

Benefits for the Clients

SEMak screen shot

Ultimately, E-Syariah benefits the clients: plaintiffs and defendants, who will gradually see shorter queues outside of courtrooms and at counters across the nation. In addition, they too can conduct some of their dueling with the court over the Internet right from their living rooms. But most importantly, they will benefit from the better case dispositions that impact their lives directly.

SEMak – a system pioneered to better the Sarawak Syariah Court System

Syariah Court Electronic System or better known with its Bahasa Melayu acronym, SEMak (Sistem Elektronik Mahkamah) was developed in 1995 by SAINS. Similar to the E-Syariah, it was developed in stages as well. It was implemented in the Sarawak State Syariah Court in mid 1996. There have been numerous upgrades since. In fact, its last enhancement was done in 2001.

Initiation of SEMak

SEMak was initiated by Sarawak Syariah Court with the vision of sharing vital case information between all the divisional Syariah Courts in the state, which enables easier reference to past cases, and uniformity of judgments for similar cases across the state. Also, with an integrated system in the state, it facilitates mobile office for the judges.

Advantages of SEMak

SEMak is a web-based integrated system for all the Syariah Courts in the state, which promotes collaboration and sharing of vital information, while the previous client-server system was a stand-alone system for a single Court. With SEMak comes info sharing. With it comes uniformity in judgments as well. With electronic systems such as these, mobile lawyers and judges can do their work efficiently and better than before. Decisions are uniformed and work is more efficient.

E-Syariah (Malaysia) Screen Shot

Differences between SEMak and E-Syariah

The difference between SEMak and E-Syariah is one of scope. Developed in 1995, SEMak was designed for the state of Sarawak. Therefore, the features and functions were designed for effective court case management among all the districts within a state.

The E-Syariah, however, was designed with the whole country in mind. The overall system architecture was designed for effective court case management for all cases within the whole country. In short, this is an integrated system for all states. It does deal not only with info-sharing within the State, but also bring all the States together and sharing at the National level. The scope for E-Syariah is bigger and the requirements are different at the National level. E-Syariah also has a bigger user base as compared to SEMak.

In terms of applications, SEMak comprises only of the Syariah Court Case Management System, while E-Syariah comprises the 5 applications namely the Syariah Court Case Management System, Syarie Lawyers Registration System, Library Management System, E-Syariah portal and System Links to Relevant Agencies.

The intentions and objectives of both E-Syariah and SEMak are the same, that is, to achieve a more efficient and effective Syariah Court System.

As of now, 45 courts are using E-Syariah. By the year 2005, all Syariah Courts throughout the country will be using the system.

The State of Sarawak can be proud of her achievements in bringing a concept born here to the national level. The sharing of skills and technology that will benefit and serve all involved is pivotal in the development of Information and Communications Technology to the State and Malaysia as a whole.

SAINS is an ICT company created to address holistically the total ICT requirements of the public sector and giving it comprehensive treatment.
Applications developed are shareable with other states as well SAINS hopes to create Solutions that are world class and aims to make her mark in the national and international scene.