Seventeen staff from Vanuatu’s six provinces have just completed a workshop on Case Management and Registry System. The workshop was conducted by Michael Chettleburgh of Lexis Nexis worldwide legal case management systems provider from England. Facilitator Chettleburgh who created the system himself, is based in Sydney, Australia.
The Vanuatu Case Management and Registry System costs Vt4 million and is funded by the Vanuatu Government. A similar system is also used by the State Law Office, the Ombudsman’s Office, the Court House, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. It is accessible to all officers to access case files and updates on case status of custom lands anywhere where there is internet connection.
The system integrates ‘word’, ‘outlook, ‘excel’ and government shared Drivers Drives.
Mr. Humphrey Tamata from the Custom Land Management Office (CLMO), outlined the objective of the workshop.
“This historical achievement is a serious attempt by the government to improve the services of the Custom Land Management Office,” he said.
“It will allow for better management of cases and produce reliable data that can benefit all stakeholders and aid government policy in terms of Custom Land Ownership and Development.
“Previously, the CLMO was filing manually with the use of excel spread sheets which is time consuming. The new system will contribute to improving effectiveness and efficiency in addressing land ownership cases.”
He also said once a Nakamal, Area Land Tribunal, Island Court or any court decision on land ownership has been reached and finalized, the record of Tribal, Clan, Family ownership will be registered for future generations and descendants. The system keeps information safe and secure from natural disasters and fire which has been known to destroy courts files in the past. The system measures age of case, supervisors can monitor and track officers progress on each case file and case files on hand.
“There are many cases in Vanuatu,” he said. “Luganville town cases for instance are 24 years old. There are lease applications cases that are up to 6 years old, this is since the introduction of the CLM Act, which the government passed and came into force but never backed it up with the necessary sufficient financial and human resources.
“There has not been any proper awareness done throughout the country prior to 2018. This year 2019 CLMO has managed to cover many areas of Vanuatu which have refused to accept the former Land Tribunal Act. This year alone we have had 10 Nakamal Decisions reached at the Nakamal Level by ‘consensus’.
“This goes to show the positive impact of live Nakamal awareness work carried out with limited resources throughout Vanuatu. Places we have been to for awareness are now accepting the CLM Act, this is after rejection of the land tribunals in the past.”
He said 2019 will also see Land Finality Pilot Project Commencement on Mota Island in Torba Province as a proactive measure to resolve land ownership matters based on “consensus”.
“We have already obtained permission from TORBA Provincial Government Council for the project to proceed,” said Mr. Tamata.
“In attempts to make our services accessible, we have issued government purchased button phones and refilled (VT3,000 per month) sim cards to all of the CLMO number 27297 to obtain Provincial Custom Land Officers and other contacts.
Source: Daily Post