Filenews 23 August 2024 - by Michalis Hadjivassilis
The e-justice system is up in the air, with final decisions to be made in early September. The results of the final crash tests are currently awaited and final decisions on the future of the system will be made at a meeting of all stakeholders convened for next month.
Yesterday, after many months of silence, Deputy Minister of Innovation, Nikodemos Damianou, although not clear about what will happen, said that "we are finally in the final stage to make decisions about its future". He said that several efforts have been made by the company that undertook this project so that the system can meet its purpose, adding that the results of preliminary checks are currently awaited.
He noted that the project council, which is the competent body, after studying the relevant documents, should make decisions and judge whether the company that undertook the project has corrected the system and is able to operate smoothly and meet the immediate and future needs of the legal world and the judiciary.
Information from "F" states that the preliminary tests of the changes made revealed problems and that their control was not successful. It is for this reason that the meeting of all stakeholders in the project was convened to discuss the problems and make a decision. Now, either e-justice will end with the termination of the contract, or more time will be given to correct the problems, but with an unknown result.
"F" asked for the views of all those involved with the Supreme Court and the Cyprus Bar Association to refer us to the Deputy Ministry of Innovation. We have been told by the Ministry of Justice that it has no involvement in the matter.
It is noted that lawyers had organized protests on the issue outside the Supreme Court and outside Parliament, when the problems were discussed and demanded immediate implementation of the new system. As mentioned to "F" by a member of the Association, "tolerance has its limits. The Cypriot taxpayer needs to know where his money is going. It is time to take bold decisions because the situation is not going any further." It is recalled that after the collapse of the system, from 29 January Courts and lawyers returned to the old i-justice system.
The system initially cost the citizen about six million euros, and then hundreds of thousands were given for changes, while how much the final cost reached so far is unknown, since a private company has been involved contributing to its reopening. It should, based on the contract, be delivered to pilot implementation in 21 months, i.e. on 8/12/2021. Two extensions totalling nine months were granted, with a new operational date of March 2023. It's August 2024 and no one knows what will happen to the system.
The digital e-justice platform was launched on January 15, '24 and a week later it was shut down after causing chaos in justice by duplicating document entries, unrecognized documents or sending documents to another recipient. It is recalled that the old i-justice system, which operates until today, had cost the state only €250,000.
Letter – catapult from the Audit Office
For the contract, the Audit Office was catapult to the IT Services Department, leaving clear hints that it succumbed to the appetites of the contractor.
By letter hon. 24/1/2024 of the Director of Technical Control of the Audit Office, Stalos Aristidou, stated that in September 2020, contract C.2020/20 was signed between TYP and IBM Italia S.p.A for the purchase of the right to use e-justice worth €5.816.500 + VAT and a total duration of 156 months (13 years). According to the initial timetable, the implementation of the system should have been completed on 8/12/2021, the date on which its 6-month pilot operation would begin, while on 8/6/2022 the system would be completed and put into productive operation. The letter also states:
>> On the recommendation of the contract coordinator and the Departmental Committee on Changes and Claims (CEEA), the Central Committee for Changes and Claims (CEEA), as the competent body, approved two extensions with a total duration of nine months (six months + three months respectively). Based on the latest approval of the competent bodies, the system should be put into production in March 2023, having already completed its pilot operation period which would enter into force in September 2022 (four months pilot trial operation and two months pilot production operation).
>> Following a proposal by the contract coordinator and TAEA, CEEA, as the competent body, approved changes worth €452,068 concerning additional functionalities (interconnection of e-Justice system with Public Prosecutor's system, addition of a new Administrative Court of International Protection, document verification code, Backlog of cases).
>> On 6/12/2023, a new proposal by the coordinator of the contract and TAEA was examined by KEEA, concerning a proposal to amend this contract to include additional functions/changes to the e-Justice system, with a total value of €890,000, as well as an extension of the implementation schedule by 11 months. KEEA, decided to postpone the decision until it obtains information from the PRESS. The cost for the additional requirements or changes has been estimated by the contractor at €1,697,305, while the negotiation has reduced this amount to €890,930, "which indicates a kind of oriental haggling that is not compatible with public procurement". In other words, the request to KEEAA was unlawfully submitted ex post and essentially aims to facilitate the contractor to fulfil its own contractual obligations by charging the State with the costs.
>> The acceptance of the implementation of the system, when it cannot function without changes that cost more than the cost of its implementation, which refers to the entrapment of the state in the appetites of the contractor.
>> A delay clause of only €16,897 was imposed for the project in 2022, due to delays due solely to the contractor.
The two possibilities
The letter states that two possibilities may apply: Either the contractor is unable to implement the system with the investment he has predetermined through his initial bid, or the specifications as recorded in the tender documents were not complete or accurate.
In fact, the Audit Office disagreed with the approval of the amount of €890.930, as proposed by the Contracting Authority, as well as the requested extension and clearly requested that the possibility of termination of the contract be considered.
Finally, it was noted that instead of completing the project in 21 months, it will currently take 41 months to complete. That was last January, whereas now we are in August.
