Electronic Case Management and Mediation - Drastic Improvement for the Courts in Tonga

Abstract

A low ranking in the ease of contract enforcement in the 2006 World Bank doing business report prompted Tonga's government to seek remedial action. This paper charts the range of activist measures, in particular the introduction of electronic case management and mediation, both of them instrumental in improving the legal process drastically. In October 2007, the World Bank highlighted in its doing business report that Tonga's Supreme Court had cut the average time to enforce contracts from 510 days to 350. While this does not make the court the world's fastest, the vast improvement ensured the country the title of top reformer in the category of contract enforcement. Striking out close to 100 percent of dormant cases, placing others on a strict timetable, introducing mediation, and increasing the jurisdiction of the Magistrate's Court - all this was achieved in just more than a year.